


Utopia

by Fire_Inu_Princess



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zootopia Fusion, F/M, Friendship, Police
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 11:08:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 78,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12910650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fire_Inu_Princess/pseuds/Fire_Inu_Princess
Summary: Hinata has dreamed of becoming a cop since she was ten. Hoping to make a difference in the world for humans and demons. Yet, what is she to do when there is an unsolved case of missing demons, and a con-man, who just happens to be a fox demon enter her life? Well, she tries to solve the case only to learn more about being a cop than what she had thought.





	1. A Dream

**Author's Note:**

> Meant to upload this earlier, I have this story on fanfiction.net and Deviantart, this is one of the three stories that I'm working on along with A Warrior's Oath and Werewolf Among the Leaves.

It was a beautiful day. A day that anyone would love to be outside just to enjoy the scene, the scents of flowers and the rustling of leaves. It was a day like this that would change the view of a young girl forever. In a house, or a shrine more like it. Lived a powerful family of priests, monks, and priestesses. The Hyuuga’s were renowned for their sacred powers, a gift that, legend has it was blessed upon them since the beginning of time. A power that had been used to stop the demons from hurting humans and helping with removing evil spirits from people’s homes.

 

Yet, over time humans and demons had stopped attacking though, there was the rare time where a demon would go ‘rouge’ so to speak, and attack a human out of the blue just for the thrill of the hunt that they would sometimes miss.

 

Over the many years for the family, there have been the main family, which would house the leader of the family. Then, there would be the branch family, those who would protect and help the main family with their exorcisms or healing of others. There was a bit of a feud with the families yet, there was never one where they have tried to kill the family thus far for their sacred powers were still far too weak to do so.

 

Why this is mentioned? Well, it just so happens, that the current heiress of the family, a young girl named Hinata Hyuuga was to be the Head Priestess of the family but, there was one problem.

 

She lacked some power.

 

Compared to other members of her family, she didn’t have that great of spiritual power. It was still far from weak, but still far from powerful. Not wanting to cause any kind of harm between her, and her little sister Hanabi, she had walked to her father, and started to speak to him… about the future of the clan.

 

“Father, I… I don’t wish to take over as Clan Head of the family.” Hinata said with a frown. She was a young girl, short blue hair with two locks framing her hair in a princess style haircut. She wore a simple light lavender coloured kimono, with a purple cherry blossom petals decorating from the hem up to the waist. Her pale lavender coloured eyes stared at her father for a moment before she looked away. Personally, it was something that she had wanted to speak to her father about for a while now. She knew that her sister had stronger power already, it was already stronger than her own and Hanabi was younger.

 

Her father, almost seemed to narrow his eyes at her. Making her pale skin even paler for a moment. The current head, Hiashi, had long dark brown hair and white pupil less eyes, much like his daughter though lacked the lavender colouring. His tanned skin darkened slightly from the anger only for him to let out a soft sigh. It seemed that he almost… expected this. Looking over at his eldest daughter, he asked “What reason is there for this choice Hinata?”

 

“I… I lack the power to be head father. Hanabi, she has far more power than I do. It just seems right, for her to take over when she is of age doesn’t it?” Hinata said with a frown. Hoping that her father would understand. Dear god she hoped that he wouldn’t be mad at her for this choice. She went on after that statement. “I want to help make a difference in the world father. I just don’t think I can here… Please, allow me to do this… please.”

 

Hiashi just stared at his daughter. As if he was trying to think on what it was that he should, or could say. Letting out a soft breath, he pushed himself up from his seat, the green and white kimono that he wore rustled as he walked toward his daughter. Hinata, tightly shut her eyes, thinking that he was going to hit her or punish her for her defiance. Even though her father has never been cruel to her, or Hanabi, she knew that he was a stern man when he needed to be. Such as with demons, or when the Branch Family tried to cross a line so to speak.

 

Shaking on the spot, Hinata tried to keep herself calm, tried to keep herself relaxed. Thinking that she would be struck, thinking that she would be yelled at. Yet, she didn’t deal with either. Instead, she felt a gentle palm on her head and ruffled her hair a little. Looking up at her father, Hinata just stared with wide innocent eyes as she was about to speak. “Hinata, try to find your own path in your life. Your mother and I only want you to be happy, nothing more. Now, if I remember correctly, don’t you have a school fair to go too? Don’t they have something about potential jobs or of the like going on there?”

 

That was true, her school had asked a bunch of people from Utopia to come to her school to speak about the many jobs that they had there among the other kinds of jobs here. Yeah, she’d go there and maybe, there was someone there that would give her an idea as to what she could do with her life. Nodding her head, Hinata happily said “Okay father. Thank you.” She bowed to him before she made her way to her bedroom. May as well go to the fair in something other than a kimono. There was no way that she’d go and ruin one of her favourite kimonos anyway. She only liked wearing these around her home, nothing more.

 

Quickly, she changed into a lavender t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. Grabbing her white running shoes, the young girl ran out of her home. Hoping to get to the school as quickly as she could. Though, thankfully the school wasn’t far from her home. It would be about a few minute walk from her home at best. Giggling softly, the young girl just hoped that it wasn’t too late.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata managed to get to her school, she couldn’t help but stare in awe. The school itself, was a rather large temple-like building. One half of the school, was for some of the demon children that wanted to be more than just ‘demons’ so to speak. While the other half, was for the human children that had sacred powers to try to stop the demons that would attack humans, or to help heal those who needed to be healed.

 

Hinata noticed in the gym, that there were booths and stands set up for the students to go to. To check out all of the possible jobs that they may be interested in. Tilting her head, she took a gaze around the room, there were so many students here that she had no idea what she could look at first. She knew that in the job market or whatever her father called it, that there were still some jobs that humans weren’t allowed to do, because demons saw them unfit to do them in the first place.

 

There were jobs for banks, arenas, designers and so on. Yet, nothing seemed to strike her as making a true difference in the first place. It just didn’t seem like there was anything yet, but it still wouldn’t hurt her to take a better look around.

 

Walking around the area, the young woman saw a few demon children looking for jobs as fire fighters, construction workers and the like. Some of them even looked really excited. Though, walking past one of the larger doors, she saw a few Oni and Ogre Demons outside, since they were unable to fit in the building themselves since, unlike other demons, they weren’t able to shift into a more human appearance.

 

Some demons, mainly kept ears, tails as signs that they were demons or the kind of demons they were. Though other demons, mostly had pointed ears along with their fangs and claws. Some even had special markings, or ‘crests’ as others called it. There were even some tales about some demons having a different attribute with a few things. Though she couldn’t think of a specific kind of demon that would have something like that at the moment.

 

Walking past a few water demons, who were mentioning about sports mostly swimming though again, that was mostly for demons. Humans, she figured had their own sports that they could do but the more intense sports, she heard weren’t allowed to try out for them.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, the young girl kept on walking about, hoping that she would be able to find something, though so far nothing seemed to strike her still. It all almost seemed like some kind of dream or something to try to find something that she could do. Shaking her head, Hinata figured that maybe it was best to try to go to one of the booths that was outside and get a drink. At least they had something like that for everyone that was here in case they got thirsty with their search.

 

Once she had gone outside, the young blue haired girl hoped that she could find the booth quick. The stress, even for her own young mind was getting to her. Letting out a soft sigh, she made a turn only to blink when she heard a cry for help and a splash.

 

Rushing to the nearby river, Hinata hoped that she had heard wrong. Sadly, the screams and cries for help made her rethink about it.

 

Stopping by the river, near the bridge, Hinata saw that the railing of the wooden bridge was broken, so whoever fell in had fallen from the bridge railing breaking. Looking down, she saw a small child. She couldn’t tell who it was but didn’t think long about it. Instead, she dove into the water, the young girl swam down the river, thankful that the power of the river was able to push her quicker thanks to her being able to swim. Carefully, she made sure that she was aligned with the child, from what more she could tell, the child was younger than her. Where were their parents?

 

Shaking her head, the young girl move her arms and legs with the flow of the water, hoping to move faster. Narrowing her eyes in determination, Hinata moved quickly, managing to reach the child and pull them close to her chest. Hinata had no idea how long the child was there for, but she felt them shivering. Taking a closer look, she saw that it was a little girl… and she was cold to the touch. A demon maybe?

 

 _’No matter, she needs help…’_  Hinata thought to herself before swimming on her side, trying to pull them to the side of the river. Though as she swam, the young girl saw that everyone was making their way out of the school towards the river. Shaking her head, the young girl managed to pull them to the shore, allowing the little girl, whom she figured to be maybe a few years younger than her, to be pulled over by a tall man in a police uniform. Hinata pulled herself to the shore, looking over at the little girl, now that she got a better look she saw what she looked like.

 

She had snowy white hair and icy blue eyes. Wearing a long sleeved sweater and a pair of shorts with long socks. What kid wore that? Shaking her head to the side, the young girl looked over at the police officer and saw that he was some kind of wolf. Or, dog… she had no idea. All she could tell was that he was some kind of canine from the way the ears and tail looked.

 

He checked the little girl, making sure that she was okay despite her shivering. Was she cold or was she just in some kind of shock? Shaking her head, Hinata walked over to her and gently placed her hands on the little girl’s shoulders and used her sacred powers. Her power, she hoped, would send in soothing waves of energy to help calm down the little girl. The shock of the fall, the jolt of hitting the water, all of it must have been too much for her to handle at the time and now, all she needed was to be calm, and relax even after her fall in the river.

 

All the while, the cop just stared at her in awe.

 

The faint shivers from the white haired girl, whom Hinata figured was a Snow Woman’s child, was starting to calm down and relax. It almost seemed like the whole incident had never happened as she looked up at Hinata and smiled. That was enough to make Hinata smile, just happy that she could help someone. It just… felt so good to help those who needed help, she knew that much.

 

“You did a good job there pup.” Said the police officer.

 

Hinata looked up, blinking her eyes innocently. He just chuckled at her before kneeling in front of her and stared at her with a kindness that she didn’t see often in older demons. “I don’t see many pups your age willing to help demons. More so the ones with sacred powers.” Hinata blushed a bit at those words but looked down. “I see that you made a big difference here.” Blinking, she looked up in shock at those words. She made… a difference?

 

“My father told me to always treat others the way you’d want to be treated.” Hinata said calmly. Though she still felt a little shy at the small praise that the demon gave her.

 

The cop chuckled a little more before reaching into his breast pocket and pulled out a small sheet of paper. Causing Hinata to stare in confusion though, she wondered what it could be that would make him pull something like that out. “I have something I want to give you. Just give me one second okay?” Hinata just nodded, though didn’t feel threatened so it couldn’t be anything bad at least. Soon, he took something off the paper and stuck it to her chest, right over her heart. “Maybe someday, you could be a cop or even just make a bigger difference than you have today.” He smiled gently at Hinata before ruffling her hair and looked at the little girl. “Now, I’ll escort this little pup to her parents. I bet they’re looking all over for her.” With that, he waved good-bye to Hinata, as did the Snow Woman’s child as they both walked away.

 

Hinata looked down, and couldn’t help but stare at the sticker that was on her chest. It was a badge sticker. A badge that looked like the ones the cops wore in Utopia! They made a bigger difference right? Yeah! Oh god, she could be a cop! Smiling brightly, a bounce in her step as she went to look for two of her best friends. Hoping that they were here so she could tell them the news of her discovery.

 

She had no idea where they could have gone. Though, then again if Ino was the one that was leading Sakura again, they would have gone to the flower field. The only place where Ino felt at peace with since she loved flowers. Her family owned a flower shop here that also dealt with herbs for healing. Sakura though was the smart one, and always saw that there were good uses for flowers which, always made Hinata smile. Those two were so much alike that it was almost scary sometimes.

 

Yet, as she made her way over to the flower fields, she heard something.

 

“Stop that! You’re hurting me!” shouted a voice that sounded like Ino. Running now, Hinata hoped that nothing bad happened to her friends. She didn’t know what would be hurting them though she knew that it could be anything at this point. Narrowing her eyes in determination, the young girl moved faster, hoping and praying that nothing terrible had happened to them.

 

Moving past some bushes that lead to the flower fields, Hinata stared at what was happening. Standing there was a boy around their age whom, stood over a downed blonde haired girl. Who wore a simple white t-shirt and dark blue shorts and white sandals, along with a pink haired girl who tried to help the down blonde. Hinata looked over at the demon and saw the fox ears and the double tail. She had heard something about fox demons, something about them being tricky and sly. The number of tails told anyone the amount of power that they were born with.

 

She had only ever seen a fox with maybe three tails at best in her life. But even she knew that you still had to be careful over a fox demon regardless of their tails.

 

“Quit it out Konohamaru!” shouted Sakura.

 

“Oh shut up. I just want your stinking tickets! Now hand them over!” shouted the boy, who Hinata remembered as Konohamaru. He had dark brown mixed with red on his ears and tails. His hair itself however, was brown that was styled upward in a spikes. He wore a yellow shirt with a leaf symbol and wore grey pants and no shoes.

 

Shaking her head, Hinata made her way over to the trio as she said “Knock it off Konohamaru. Why do you have to steal from us?” Konohamaru glared at her with his dark eyes. He just seemed to glare at her with so much hate that it almost made her shudder in fear. Though she kept that shiver at bay for now. Taking a step forward, the young girl calmly said “Just knock it off and leave them alone.”

 

“Make me.” Konohamaru growled out before taking a step forward, Hinata could faintly hear her friends calling out to her, to get her to run away but Hinata knew better. Konohamaru was the village bully. He picked on any and all humans because it brought him… something. She had no idea what it was that caused him to do this. All she knew, was that she had to stand up to him, here and now. He stood in front of the smaller girl, Hinata almost forgot that he was a few inches taller than her. “Hm?” He mumbled as he looked down and stared at her chest.

 

“What?” Hinata asked with a glare of her own that could have made anyone shudder. Though he kept firm in his stare only to smirk. “What are you smirking at?” asked Hinata.

 

“Oh, this is rich! You think you can be a cop!?” shouted Konohamaru with laughed. Hinata looked down and saw the sticker that was on her shirt only to glare back. “I don’t see that ever happening. No human has ever been a cop, it’s the dumbest thing ever! Humans aren’t as strong or as fast as demons!” Hinata narrowed her eyes at those words. “You would be bawling your eyes out before you ever did anything worthwhile in the first place!” To prove his point, he shoved her to the ground, and said “Go ahead and cry you baby! Cry!” He mocked as he bent forward to get a better look at her face.

 

Only for Hinata to have smacked him when he was in reach. Yet, that wasn’t the only thing she had done… Her hand had been engulfed with sacred energy, causing the fox to yelp from the pain as it burned his skin. He turned back to Hinata, feeling his skin as it burned as he growled out “Oh, that’s it.” Holding out his hand that once held his cheek, he flexed his claws before growling… and slashed at her face.

 

Hinata cried out from the pain as she held her cheek. Looking at her palm after touching her hurt flesh, she saw blood staining her skin. Only to yelp as Konohamaru pinned her to the ground as he growled at her once more. “Now you listen here you stupid mud girl. If you think you can be anything other than some prissy princess of a priestess, then you have another thing coming. Because you will never be anything else other than that! You will be nothing, you are nothing and you will only be, nothing but a stupid pathetic mud girl!” With that, he slapped her stinging cheek, causing her to cry out in pain once more before he walked off.

 

“Hinata!” shouted the girls as they rushed over to Hinata. The blue haired girl just laid there, her cheek still stung and burned from the pain, she knew that she’d have to get a healer to look at it.

 

“Oh god that looks bad. Why did you do that?” asked Ino, her blue eyes shining with concern and worry. Hinata looked at her friends, and tried to smile at them. Ino helped Hinata up to her feet as the blue haired girl dusted herself off.

 

“I did it because you’re my friends.” Hinata said with a small smile.

 

“Even though he called you that Hinata?” Sakura said with a frown, her green eyes also filled with worry.

 

Mud girl… it was a horrible name for humans because of a legend that humans were made from clay. Or at least, started out as clay and were molded from it. Taking a deep breath, the young girl looked at her friends and only smiled at them. “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it.” Hinata said with a big smile on her face. Looking at her shirt once more, she saw that the sticker was still there. Giving a small smile, she said “I was coming anyway to tell you two, I want to be a cop. I want to make a difference in the world.”

 

Sakura and Ino both grinned at this. “I believe in you, what about you Ino?” asked Sakura.

 

“I do as well. If anyone can do it, it’s you Hinata.” Ino said with a big smile on her face.

 

Hinata could only smile, this was something that she wanted, and at least her friends were on her side. Yet, the only ones that she had to tell now were her parents. Though, that would be harder since… in a way Konohamaru was right. There hasn’t been a human cop in… ever. Humans were seen as weak, too weak to ever handle the stress of being a cop or the knowhow. Yet, she thinks that with her own sacred powers, she could do just that.

 

“Sorry guys, I’m gonna head home. I’m gonna get the family healer to look at this I’ll talk to you two later.” Hinata held her cheek, wincing from the pain as she touched it. Yeah, she’d have to get it looked at right away. This was going to be hard to explain to her parents.

 

* * *

 

 

After she arrived her parents were waiting for the blue haired heiress as she tried to tell them what she wanted to do. Yet, as soon as they saw the claw marks on her face, Hiashi demanded for the healer to come right away. As for Hinata’s mother, she stayed by her daughter’s side the whole time. Hinata looked up at her mother with a frown. Her mother had long blue hair and kind lavender colour eyes. In a way, Hinata was like a mini version of her mother, Hana Hyuuga.

 

Even though her mother lacked any spiritual power, it didn’t stop her father from loving Hana as much as he does. “What happened sweetie?” asked Hana with a concern look on her face.

 

“I went to the fair…” Hinata started to explain. Telling her mother about how she went to the fair, wanting to find something different to do with her life. Yes, she was only ten years old but, she was still a child full of dreams so to speak. She had dived into the water when she saw a little Snow Woman’s child fall in and she saved her. After that, a police officer from Utopia commented on her heroics and mentioned that she made a difference and could make a good cop.

 

After that she had gone to tell her friends, whom she knew would be somewhere around there and saw Konohamaru bullying them. She stood up to him, only to end up getting clawed at for slapping him with her hand that, she had infused with sacred power at the time. Hana stared at her daughter the whole time, listening to the tale that her daughter was saying only to frown at what it was, that her daughter wanted to become. “Honey, are you sure that you want to be a cop? You know there hasn’t been a human cop for a long time.” Hana said with a frown.

 

It was then, that Hiashi arrived with the healer, to be honest Hinata didn’t even know that he had left. Must have left while her mother was trying to keep her distracted perhaps. The healer rushed to Hinata and looked at her cheek with concern. He was mumbling that he could easily heal it, but sadly it would leave some scars on her skin. With how pale Hinata’s skin was, there was still a chance that it would still be noticeable but only if you were close enough.

 

While the healer was tending to Hinata’s cheek, Hiashi heard from Hana about what Hinata had gone through and what she wanted to become. Her father just stared at his eldest daughter as if she had grown a second head. It seemed that he wasn’t keen on the idea of Hinata becoming a cop. So… he made her a deal so to speak.

 

“I’ll allow you to go try to become a cop, if you keep up with your Priestess Training. Even if you do not become the head of the family, I still wish for you to harness your power.” Hiashi said with a stern voice.

 

Well, there were worse deals that could have been made. At least, to her anyway. Nodding her head, Hinata agreed to her father’s terms, hoping that she would still be able to become a cop. And that her sacred powers would be enough to give her a bit of a boost in doing so. Yet, she had a feeling that it would be a difficult though, then again she would be among other demons there while she, would be the only human there.

 

“Okay father. I’ll keep training.” She said with a smile on her face.

 

Taking a deep breath, Hiashi felt a little more at ease. Happy to see that his daughter saw to his terms. Though Hinata could see it in his eyes, he hoped that she wouldn’t become a cop, because he was afraid of what could happen to her. Sure, her father was a stern and tough man, but when it came to his children he was still a parent and cared greatly about his family.

 

Reaching up, she gently touched her cheek after the healer was done. The healer bowed to the head of the family before starting to walk away. It still hurt a little though not as much as before. “I’m gonna go rest now father. I’ll start my training tomorrow.” Hiashi nodded his head, knowing that Hinata would need the rest. Taking a deep breath, Hinata started to walk on toward her room. Just wanting to sleep, and deal with all of her training. Though, she hope that nothing serious happens from now on…


	2. The Academy

**Fourteen Years Later**

 

Hinata couldn’t believe it. She had studied so hard for this for fourteen long years. It all seemed like nothing but a dream but here she was. At the police academy. Taking a look around, she saw that it was a rather large building, it was shaped like a giant U from what she could see from her angel. Running her free hand through her long blue hair, the young woman started to make her way toward the buildings dormitory.

 

Over the course of fourteen years, Hinata had kept her word with her father. Training her sacred powers to make sure that they were still in tune and, so to speak, sharp. Yet, she still lacked the right amount of power to take over the family. Though she didn’t mind it much. She knew what happened to those who became part of the Branch Family, and didn’t want that with her sister. There was nothing that would hurt her worse, than to have her sister hate her because one of them was part of the Branch family. Even now, thinking about it hurt her heart and it would only get worse as time went on for sure.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman kept on walking, noticing the looks that everyone was giving her. Even though she couldn’t hear them, she could almost feel what it was that they were thinking. Deep in their hearts, they wondered how she, a human woman, was able to get into the academy in the first place. She was sure of it.

 

Over the years, people, even the members of the Branch Family, questioned her. Wondering how she would ever be able to be a cop. The only ones that ever believed in her, were her two best friends Sakura and Ino… then of course, there were her parents. But, she saw the concern and fear in her parent’s eyes when she mentioned being a police officer. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, Hinata tried to get her baring’s together. Hoping that she didn’t show how nervous she really was here.

 

Shaking her head, the young woman made her way down the hall, hoping to just get to her dorm and get through the day. After all, she still had so much that she had to get through before becoming a cop. And that was to survive the course, the classes, everything. That was the only thing that she had to endure so she would be able to go and be a true cop, helping those and making a difference for the world.

 

Inhaling through her nose, and breathing out through her mouth, Hinata felt her nerves relax a little as she tried to think of something else. Thinking about something else though easier said than done. Maybe if she was lucky, she’d find and make a friend here… though, then again, there was a chance of that not happening since she wasn’t just the only human here, but a priestess of sorts at that. Frowning, Hinata ran a hand through her hair in slight frustration.

Shaking her head, the young woman made her way to her room and saw that she had a bunk bed. Guess she did have a roommate though, she wasn’t a hundred percent sure as to who it was. Taking a look around, she saw that so far, there was nothing else in the room other than a two desks, two computers… two separate bathrooms? Wow she guess they went all out when it came to the roommate thing.

 

Shaking her head, she went to take the bottom bunk as she just laid there thinking. Classes didn’t start until tomorrow, so she had a chance to relax for the time being. Yet, she couldn’t help but wonder, how would everything be like as soon as she started her classes? No doubt difficult since she was the only human though, she figured that the demon students here wouldn’t make it easier for her either. Most likely try to force her to head home and rethink her life.

 

 _’I won’t allow it. I will become a cop no matter the cost…’_  she thought to herself, only to freeze when she heard the door open and close. Rolling over onto her belly, she saw a woman walk into the room. It was a woman with long silky black hair and large butterfly wings. The wings were a mix of purples and blues giving it a beautiful pattern that she couldn’t even describe. The woman just glared down when she saw Hinata, causing Hinata to freeze up on the spot once more. “Um… hello, I’m your roommate Hinata.”

 

“Great, I have to share a room with a mud ball.” Hinata winced at the name. God, she hated it when people used those insults. It made her skin crawl though she kept that to herself. “Whatever you do, do not talk to me, don’t think we’re friends because we aren’t. In fact, just do us all a favor and just leave already. There is no way in hell that you can become a cop.” She said with a sneer.

 

Hinata though, just glared back at her. “I am not leaving. I will prove that I can be just as good a cop as any demon. Now just back the hell off!” Hinata almost covered her mouth. She had never said anything like that before, and it had surprised her a great deal. Though, in a way she didn’t regret it. There was no way that she was going to allow anyone to push her around anymore. She would make sure that her dream came true, she would make the world a better place. No matter what, Hinata Hyuuga would become a police officer. “If you try to do anything to make me fail, I will make sure that you never will never become a police officer either.” Hinata then held up her hand as it glowed in a soft blueish sacred energy, causing the Butterfly Demon to stare in shock. “Oh, and no one will believe you about me having sacred power.” With that, she made the aura disappear before laying back down.

 

Man, Hinata was shaking slightly. She never knew that she could do that but… she wouldn’t let anyone push her around. Starting tomorrow, she would have to toughen out her training and make sure that she did what she could to get through the training. Closing her eyes, the young woman just hoped that this wouldn’t bite her in the butt later.

 

* * *

 

 

**Warning, Slight Montage Ahead, Short Part of Chapter**

 

There, Hinata stood in the field with many of her fellow students. Many were dog demons, cats, bear, wolf and so on. She had no idea that she could feel this much demonic aura in her entire life yet she knew that this was what to come from coming to the Police Academy. Looking up at the instructor, a bear demon woman, she heard the teacher saying that they had to learn to deal with some of the unique parts of Utopia. Such as Sahara Square, Tundra Town, and Rain Forest District. If they couldn’t finish a single one then they were dead meat.

 

Hinata knew that this was going to be tough without a doubt.

 

“You’ll have to run through sad storms, climb fringed ice walls, and climb during rain storms.” Said the instructor. Hinata almost wanted to gulp, yup, was not going to be easy. Then again, no one ever claimed that it was going to be easy, to become a cop. Closing her eyes, the young woman followed her fellow students to the track that would allow them to try to run through sand storms.

 

“Okay everyone, go… NOW!” shouted the instructor.

 

Hinata, without a second thought ran through, feeling the heat from the heating fans that blew the sand at them. She couldn’t see, couldn’t really move quickly. Yet, some of the demons seemed to have no problem. Hinata kept trying, kept pushing forward trying to muster all of her strength to keep moving forward.

 

The sand though, it was just so blinding, so painful hitting her skin. She felt her knees buckling from the strain of trying to get through. Before she knew it, she felt her body falling forward and almost buried under the sand.

 

“You’re dead human girl!” shouted the instructor.

 

The next task, was to try to climb the monkey bars with rain over a huge mud puddle. Why couldn’t they do this one last? Shaking her head, the young woman got in line as she waited for her turn to ‘swing’ from the monkey bars. It was pouring rain, making her bangs stick to her forehead, her clothes clinging to her like a second skin. She almost felt the eyes of the men staring at her though she tried to ignore it right now.

 

Once it was her turn, Hinata climbed the bars, her hands already slipping from the water that drenched the metal. Hinata managed to get to the top bars and swung under the bars. Her weight swinging her back and forth as she tried to move forward. Her body wasn’t heavy no, but she wasn’t used to supporting her own weight like this. Breathing deeply, the young woman swung herself back and forth as she removed one of her hands to try to grab the next bar. Grinning to herself, the young woman kept on moving back and forth a few more times, managing to get to the middle of the monkey bars, only to end up slipping. Letting out a yelp, she fell into the mud puddle that covered her head, to toe causing her to groan.

 

“You are dead woman!” shouted the instructor.

 

Hinata groaned a little. Though at least they were nice enough to let her wash off the mud quickly… Even though it was through a hose and the next part of the course, was through the simulation of Tundra Town. Ahead of her, was a huge ice wall. It had to be fifteen feet tall at best, and as thick as her arm span.

 

She would have to be careful. Taking a look around, she saw a few demons using their claws to help them climb the wall. She’d have to think of a way to climb the wall if she was to get over it. Breathing deeply, the young woman rushed forward, making a jump as she held onto the wall, digging her fingers into the wall hoping that would help her… only for her to slip down the wall. Screaming she fell into the icy water below and surfaced. Shivering like crazy as she felt someone pulling her out of the water. “You dead girl…” Hinata sighed, but shivered.

 

After that, she was allowed to warm up thanks to some Fire Demons that they had in the infirmary. They just had a hand on her shoulder before slowly using their heat to warm her up from the icy water. Next, she had to make her way to the arena so to speak. Next she had to fight someone in hand to hand combat, which only confused her. She just hoped that she could handle this though, she highly started to doubt it now that she had failed the first three tasks.

 

Once she arrived, she saw that she had to fight a Lion Demon, causing her to sigh. Hinata was handed a helmet to protect herself and some gloves and knee pads. Getting in the arena, she bumped her fists together, much like the demon ahead of her. “Ready for this Mud Girl?” said the demon with a smirk on his face. Hearing that, almost made Hinata glare. Why did demons have to keep calling her that? It just… it hurt and it was painful to hear it all the time.

 

Rushing in, she threw a punch, then a kick. The demon of course, caught both with ease and no effort. Hinata tried again, hoping that she could get another hit in. Spinning around and threw in a kick though again, the demon caught it with no effort.

 

Before she knew it, she was thrown back into the corner of the ring. Her back crying out in pain from the force of the throw. Groaning, she looked up and saw the instructor how she got there so far, Hinata didn’t think she’d ever know. But, the look on her face said it all right now. “You may as well just give up.  You can’t do what demons can do, you’ll just get yourself killed out there. Just… go home Hyuuga.”

 

Hinata felt pain at those words. No one believed in her, no… she wouldn’t just quit, she would do everything in her power, to make sure that she achieved her dream! No matter what!

 

Hinata worked herself hard. She was able to focus on her studying, even with her bitchy roommate. Managed to work out whenever she wasn’t studying or eating or whatever she had to do and what couldn’t wait. She sometimes both studied and worked out at the same time, thinking of ways to get through the courses by strategy alone.

 

Breathing deeply, the young woman looked over the books, doing sit ups and push ups, then of course pull ups. Wanting to make sure that she built core strength and, strength in her arms so she could handle the obstacle course, then of course the fight training. Shaking her head, the young woman knew that this was going to make things easier for her though, she just hoped that she didn’t make a fool of herself again this time.

 

When the time for the retrial came around, the young woman was looking forward to it this time. She made sure that a plan was formulating in her head, taking another look around, she knew that this was going to be easier this time around. She, she just knew it in the pit of her stomach.

 

“And go!” shouted the instructor.

 

Hinata rushed forward, one of the first people to run for the sandstorm simulation. Her eyes narrowed into slits, blinking every now and then. Yet, she pushed on, finding it easier for her to get through this time around. The wind almost couldn’t even come close to stopping her. Smiling to herself, the young woman managed to push on, making it out the other side of the simulation before turning around. She saw the slightly confused look on some of the student’s faces but she just grinned.

 

Okay, that was one down, two more to go out here.

 

Running on ahead, the young woman made her way to the ‘Rain Forest’ simulation before waiting for her turn as a few students had gotten through before her. Jumping up, grabbing the bars, Hinata swung her weight without any issue as she made it from one bar to the next. It was rather amazing that she could do this without any issue now. Yet, at the moment she wasn’t going to complain about this in the least.

 

Smiling to herself, she didn’t even seem to mind the water that made the bars slippery. Hinata was able to keep a firm hold on it this time around, making sure not to wait for her hands to slip as she made quick work and movement to get from one bar to the other. Finally, she found herself at the end of the monkey pars and smiled happily. Giggling to herself, Hinata felt proud, now all she had was to climb the ice wall. Though she didn’t fully have an idea as to how she could get by though she did notice something at long last.

 

There, on the side of the wall were shards of ice that had fallen to the ground. Must have been when the machine couldn’t spit out the snow properly. Smiling, she ran up, quickly grabbing the ice shards. They didn’t say that you couldn’t use something around to your advantage. After all, if Tundra Town was like this in real life, then there were bound to be ice shards around somewhere.

 

Running to the wall, Hinata jumped, holding her arms back before thrusting them forward and forced the ice shards, into the ice wall. Forcing some of her own spiritual power into them so they wouldn’t break. A faint, very faint light shined from the ice though she didn’t think anyone would have noticed them.

 

Smiling to herself, the young woman made quick work of the ice wall and made her way up the wall, swinging one arm upward, her feet supporting herself as much as they could on such a slippery wall. It did take a little longer than planned but still quicker than she thought. Hinata pulled herself up on the other side of the wall and slid on down before running on ahead. This was going to be a good day after all.

 

The next thing after everyone else had managed to get through the course… for the most part anyway. It was time for the fighting criminal simulation. Just thinking about it made her back hurt, though she knew that this would be different. She just wouldn’t use her power for this or else everyone here would find out about her. So far, she didn’t believe her roommate told anyone since well, who would believe that a woman, whom was also a priestess, wanted to be a cop.

 

Once inside, she wore the standard safety gear. Headgear, gloves, and knee pads then of course the mouth guard. Looking up at the same demon as last time, Hinata took a deep calming breath through her nose as she, and the demon bumped fists before getting ready to fight. The demon threw a punch, Hinata ducked down and threw in her own punch. Though the demon caught it or at the very least blocked it off. The young woman threw punches in and spun around to throw a kick in as well.

 

It seemed that the demon wasn’t expecting the strength that Hinata had gained for she was lasting a little more this time.

 

The demon glared as he saw Hinata running to the edge of the ring. Wondering what it was that she was trying to pull this time around. Turning around, everyone just seemed to be staring at her in confusion. Hinata tossed aside the gloves as she rushed forward, flipping on the ground before jumping into the air, everyone, again, was shocked and confused as to what was happening. Hinata was spinning in the air, which built up momentum as she moved her leg and kicked the demon hard in the head. Not enough to cause serious damage, but enough to knock the demon down, flat on his back. Landing on her hands and feet, Hinata looked up and didn’t see the demon trying to get up. Did she knock him out?

 

Someone made their way over to the demon and said “Knocked out. You pass Hinata Hyuuga.” Said the instructor with a grin on her face. Just hearing those words, Hinata couldn’t help but smile happily as she cheered to herself. Her dream was one step closer to coming true at this point!

 

* * *

 

 

It’s the day… months of hard work, months of muscle pain. Months of headaches all done, gone… she can finally achieve her dream at long last. Standing on the stage, was the mayor of Utopia. A tall man with long spiky black hair. A lock of hair covering his right eye. His eye, the one visible at the very least, was dark as the night sky though even from her place in the stands, she could faintly make out flecks of gold that made her think he had to be some kind of feline based demon. Tiger? Lion? Hm…

 

He wore a simple black suit with a red undershirt and a black tie. When he turned his head, speaking about how the academy had a great set of graduates this year round, she could faintly make out pointed ears. What was his name again? She had seen him on TV before, and she had to remember what his name was…

 

 _’Oh right, Madara Uchiha. I think he’s a Lion Demon right?’_  Hinata thought to herself. Faintly, she could make out a hint of a growl from his voice, even though it didn’t sound cruel or angry.

 

“Now, onto the graduates. First up, one of our female graduates. Valent Victorian of her class, our first ever Human Police Officer, Hinata Hyuuga.”

 

Hinata smiled as she made her way up to the stage. She wore a simple blue suit with gold chains hanging over her shoulders. Her hat held under her arm as she made her way over to stand before the mayor of Utopia. Smiling happily, the young woman saw the calm expression on Madara’s face. Did this man ever smile in the first place?

 

“Assistant Mayor Uchiha, get up here and give her, her badge.” Growled Madara. Hinata blinked as she looked over and saw a slightly nervous but grinning young man rushing to them. Holding a small box in his hands. Wait, did he say Uchiha? Were these two related somehow? But, how was that possible? Obito looked like a pure human, she didn’t sense an ounce of demonic aura from him at all.

 

He had short black spiky hair, the same colour as Madara’s for sure. His eyes, dark though lacking any gold specks in the depths. He wore a simple white dress shirt and black slacks with matching black dress shoes. How was it that these two were related, but one was a demon, and one was a human? That made no sense…

 

Shaking her head mentally, the young woman just smiled happily as Obito pinned the badge to her suit. “Congrats Officer Hyuuga.” Obito said with a big grin on his face.

 

“Thank you.” She said with a soft smile, only to whisper “This has been my childhood dream.” She giggled gently, causing Obito to chuckle with her. He seemed friendly enough, maybe they could get along, and maybe she could get along with everyone here. It all just seemed like things were going to be wonderful for her after all.

 

“Obito get out of the way.” Madara said as he stood next to Hinata. “Now Officer Hyuuga, show them your pearly whites.” It was then that Hinata saw everyone now standing near the stage, holding cameras as they started to take her picture with the mayor. She couldn’t help but smile, yup things were lifting up her life for sure. What could go wrong from here on out?

 

“Now, I’d like to announce that Officer Hinata Hyuuga, will be placed in the heart of Utopia, Precinct One. You will be on the front lines of duty and I believe you will do your city proud.” Madara said, once again, voice calm and relaxed. Didn’t this guy ever smile?

 

After a few days, Hinata had packed up her things, or at least what she knew she would need. Everything that she had was in a case with wheels and an extendable handle. Smiling to herself, the young woman wore a simple white t-shirt and black tights as she smiled at her family. Her mother, father and little sister. Whom, was all dressed in the traditional kimonos of the shrine. Her sister wore a yellow kimono and her long brown hair held back by a white ribbon.

 

“Make sure you try to visit us when you can big sis.” Hanabi said with a big smile. Her lavender eyes shined with joy. Joy that her sister was able to accomplish her dream at long last.

 

“I will Hanabi.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“Call us when you get comfortable.” Hinata’s mother said with a gentle smile.

 

“Yes, and have these on you.” Hiashi said as he handed Hinata some special sutras. It was held in a pouch that she could easily have wrapped around her thigh for easy access. Hinata frowned a little at that, why would her father give her these in the first place? It wasn’t like the department wouldn’t have anything to help her ward off demons. “I have these specially made to repel Fox Demons. I do not want what happened to you before, to happen again.” Hiashi calmly said, though a hint of concern was in his voice.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, Hinata said “Father, I don’t think I’ll need this.” She tried to reassure him, that she wouldn’t need this yet, Hiashi only reminded her about what happened with her, and Konohamaru when they were children. Hinata sighed as she said “Father, he was just a jerk. There are plenty of humans that are jerks.” Hinata calmly said.

 

Hiashi gave her a soft smile as he said “Just… please humor your father Hinata. I just want what is best for you, and I’d feel better knowing you carried this with you okay?” Hearing that, the young woman stared at it for a second before letting out a soft sigh. Accepting the sutras, she nodded to him as she slipped them into a compartment on her suitcase. Looking back up at her father, she felt him hug her as he said “I am so proud of you Hinata, just know that you are always welcome home and, I hope you do what you’ve always wanted to do my child.”

 

Hinata couldn’t help but smile at her father. Hugging him back, she whispered “I will make the world a better place father. Just wait and see.” She giggled gently, only to frown when she heard the train whistle. “I have to go, I’ll call you no worries!” Hinata said with a smile before moving away from her father and went to grab her suitcase, making a bee line for the train. Making one last turn, she waved to her family as the door shut, separating them as it started to move onto her new home…

 

Utopia.


	3. Utopia

Hinata hummed softly as she made her way through the train. It was an amazing train to be honest, huge even, enough so that even ogres and troll based demons could stand up in so they could travel from place to place. Grabbing her mp3 player from her pocket, the young woman put in the ear buds into her ears as she went through her playlist, just wanting to listen to some music as she traveled. Hoping that would help pass the time, for it would be a while until the train arrived in Utopia.

 

Smiling softly to herself, Hinata looked at her MP3 player, wondering what song she would listen to first. So many to choose from, yet she had no idea what song she should listen too first. Frowning a bit in deep thought, the young woman just shrugged her shoulders as she just closed her eyes, scrolling through her list without even bothering to look at the song as she just kept going through her list at random. Hoping, praying that the first song that she picked was one that she hadn’t heard in a while.

 

After all, there were so many songs that she had on this list that she hadn’t heard in a long time.

 

Before she knew it, the young woman stopped hitting the next button, opening her eyes as she could faintly hear the music starting up in her ears. It gave her a soft smile as she heard the music starting. Yup, this was a song that she hadn’t heard in a good long while, and in a way she figured that it did match her, well, sort of anyway.

 

 _Just a small town girl_  
Livin' in a lonely world\  
She took the midnight train goin' anywhere  
Just a city boy  
Born and raised in south Detroit  
He took the midnight train goin' anywhere

 

The song was simple really, yet it had a nice beat to it. She couldn’t help but like the singer, he had a nice singing voice, yet she had been told that the lyrics had been given through a secret source whom, had wished to remain anonymous. Though, she wondered who it could have been to have written something so beautiful in the first place. They have to have some kind of beautiful soul to have written something so wonderful.

 

 _A singer in a smokey room_  
A smell of wine and cheap perfume  
For a smile they can share the night  
It goes on and on, and on, and on

 

Hinata sighed softly as she leaned against the bar as she gazed out the window in longing. How she wished that the ride would hurry, she wondered, what would be waiting for her in the big city. She knew that it was big, huge really, no, massive. There was no way of knowing how big it really was, though it had her curious as to what the people were like there. There had to be so many amazing people there, people, humans, and demons alike accepting of others. A place, where you can be anything that you put your mind too. The train stopped for a moment, Hinata figured that maybe the train had a few stops or so before making its way to Utopia. Maybe that meant that she was getting closer and closer to her destination.

 

 _Strangers waiting_  
Up and down the boulevard  
Their shadows searching in the night  
Streetlight people  
Living just to find emotion  
Hiding somewhere in the night

 

Soon, she heard something softly, her volume wasn’t on very high so she could still make out the sounds that surrounded her. Turning around, she saw a few people who were there, demons and humans, whispering among themselves as they watched something coming toward the stairs. Shrugging to herself, she figured that they had nothing better to do. Turning back, the young woman made her way to look back out the window, until she felt something. It was a demonic aura, a massive one for the most part if she was honest with herself. Slowly, ever so slowly she turned around and watched as someone was walking up the stairs, and it wasn’t just someone… but a demon.

 

 _Working hard to get my fill_  
Everybody wants a thrill  
Payin' anything to roll the dice  
Just one more time  
Some will win, some will lose  
Some were born to sing the blues  
Oh, the movie never ends  
It goes on and on, and on, and on

 

Walking up the stairs was a man. He had spiky blonde hair from what she could make out… yet, part of his hair was pulled back into a long red ponytail. She knew that some demons tend to grow out their hair, though she didn’t think that it suited him for some reason. He had fair skin with three whisker marks adorning his cheeks which stood out without a doubt. The man wore an orange shirt with black jacket that reached just above his abdomen, it had many pockets on the front and one on his arm. Next, he wore a pair of slightly torn black jeans and what appeared to be black combat boots. Yet, that wasn’t what had her feeling slight discomfort, far from it in fact.

 

 _Strangers waiting_  
Up and down the boulevard  
Their shadows searching in the night  
Streetlight people  
Living just to find emotion  
Hiding somewhere in the night

 

It was the fact that he was a fox demon. She could make out a pair of twitching orange fox ears, and a swaying thick fox tail. Wait… he only had a single fox tail… but, with the amount of tails that he had, he should have more tails than that. That doesn’t make sense to the young woman, unless he was a special kind of fox demon that even her training didn’t have knowledge of. Looking down at her hand, she saw that she had almost grabbed the sutras that her father had given her, feeling a little disgusted with herself, the young woman shook her head and moved her hand to her pocket.

 

Turning back to the man, she saw that he had a guitar case strapped to his back and two suit cases in his hands. Was he moving to Utopia as well? It had her curious, though she knew that she wouldn’t have to deal with him again. At least, not unless he somehow broke the law when she was on duty. Until then, he was no trouble for her. Turning away, the young woman went to stare out the window once more, ignoring the feeling of the demonic aura coming closer and closer to her, causing her to turn to stare up at him for a moment… in fact, she saw him turning to stare at her as well… his blue eyes staring at her for a brief moment before he looked away. What was that about?

 

 _Don't stop believin'_  
Hold on to the feelin'  
Streetlights, people

 

Why had he stared at her like that? Did he have a problem with her or, was he like everyone else? Surprised that she was gonna be a cop? At least, if he had read the newspaper from her graduation from the academy. That was the only way he would know that she was a cop, a human one at that. She smiled softly to herself at the thought, her dream had finally come true at long last, and there was no way that she would ruin this moment for herself. All she had to do, was get to her new place, get herself settled in and she wouldn’t have a problem in the least.

 

 _Don't stop believin'_  
Hold on  
Streetlight people

 

Looking back out the window, the young woman could see the buildings coming into view. At long last, she was starting to see parts of the city that she would be protecting at long last. Smiling, the young woman could feel herself glowing with happiness at long last. Taking a deep breath, the young woman looked down as she grabbed her suitcase and started to make her way toward the stairs, as was everyone else… everyone, but the fox demon. Turning to stare at him, she saw him just standing there, his tail didn’t move, didn’t even twitch. Yet, from what she could tell in his aura, he held some sort of hidden resentment toward something… was it the city? But… why?

 

 _Don't stop believin'_  
Hold on to the feelin'  
Streetlight people

 

Shaking her head, Hinata figured that it was best not to dwell on it. It wasn’t her business how others saw this amazing city, and it wasn’t like she could tell him how he is supposed to feel in the first place. Smiling to herself, the young woman made her way to the train doors as she started to prepare herself for city life.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata couldn’t help but stare at the sights that surrounded her. The city itself had been made for special kinds of demons for sure, or those for humans that wanted to live in a special kind of environment because of what they were used too when they moved here. It was rather amazing for sure, though she couldn’t help but wonder what more to the city she was missing to this place that she wouldn’t have time to sight see while she was here before her first shift tomorrow.

 

Giggling softly to herself, the young woman hummed softly as she wandered around the city trying to make her way to her new apartment, it had her curious. What would her apartment look when she arrived? There had to be something that she would be able to do with it with what she had on hand right now. At least, until she could get the money she’d need to get something to decorate her apartment with.

 

Smiling all the more, the young woman let out a soft sigh of content as she walked down the street. There were children walking, or running down the sidewalks, it made her wonder what it was like to have grown up here instead of in a small village like the one she was from. In fact, one of the children bumped into her, causing the little one to fall over. Looking down, Hinata stared at the little girl that had bumped into her. From what she could sense, the little girl was a cat demon.

 

The little girl started to sniffle, she wasn’t hurt, so… did that mean the little girl thought that she was in trouble. Giving a gentle smile, Hinata knelt down on the ground and stared at the little girl. “It’s okay… You’re not in trouble.” Giving the little girl a soft smile, Hinata added “You just have to be careful okay? You need to watch where you’re going and you’ll be alright, okay?” She had made sure to make sure that she was calm, and sounded gentle for the little girl. Not wanting to make her cry any more than she already had been.

 

The little girl looked up, wiping her eyes before pushing herself back up onto her feet. Smiling, Hinata got up and watched as the children ran off. The little girl had joined her friends as they ran off. Hinata couldn’t help but remember back when she was that small, just running around and playing with her friends… Frowning, she reached up and gently touched her cheek, the scars had faded for the most part, though they could still be seen if you looked closely enough.

 

Yet, she could still remember the pain like it was yesterday. Taking a deep shuddering breath, the young woman pushed herself back up onto her feet before grabbing her suitcase and started to make her way down the street to her apartment.

 

The closer she got, the more of the apartment building she saw. It was a rather tall building, looked like a high rise from what she could make out anyway. Maybe about seven floors if she was counting it right. It was hard to focus properly with the sun’s rays pretty much blinding her at this point. “If I remember right, I have to go to the office that’s on the… main floor.” She mumbled to herself before walking into the apartment and made her way to the office. She wondered who it was that owned the apartment, or at the very least wondered if the owner was human, or demon.

 

“Oh well, it won’t matter.” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

The trip to the office was a quick one to be honest. It wasn’t very busy, though the woman at the desk was friendly enough. “Rent is due at the end of the month, no pets, make sure to keep your apartment up to code.” Then she handed Hinata her keys, or at least was about to until she grasped the keys in her palm and glared. “Do not lose your keys, or you’ll have to pay for a new set and wait for them to come in.” Wait what? She’d have to wait for a new set? How would she get inside if she lost her keys? “If you do ever lose your keys, just call me or buzz in and I’ll let you into your place. I won’t leave you outside without a roof over your head.” Okay, that was at least a little assuring for the most part.

 

She would just have to make sure not to lose her keys in the first place though. There was no way that she would buzz in unless she had no choice and, well since her family lived far away she wouldn’t have much of a choice in the matter.

 

“Thank you.” Hinata said with a bright smile on her face. Though, she knew she’d have to pay her father back for paying her first and last month of rent until she could get her first paycheck in. It was the least she could do for her parents after supporting her for so long at this point. Frowning a little, Hinata reached into her pocket and pulled out the picture of her and her family from last year. The only recent picture that she had of her family, to be honest, she hadn’t thought that she would already be a little homesick, though maybe that was normal at this point…

 

Taking a deep, calming breath, she put the picture back in her pocket before making her way to the elevator. She was on the seventh floor, down the hall. That was the furthest apartment though, at least she would have a nice view of the city when she was home. Smiling at the thought, it only put more to her resolve, to see the city in its natural beauty at all times of the day that was enough to remind her of why she came here in the first place. Of why, she worked so hard to be what she wanted to be…

 

“I will make this world a better place…” Hinata said with a smile before unlocking the door and walking inside.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata yawned softly as she heard the buzzing of her alarm clock. Yesterday hadn’t been so bad, she had managed to unpack everything that she would need for today. Her apartment wasn’t bad in size, it was a one bedroom. Nice size kitchen, living room, and a wonderful bathroom to be honest. Just with everything that she would need. Not to mention, the balcony was nice as well, and the view was breath taking. Yawning once more, the young woman looked at the time, five o clock, and enough time for her to freshen up, change and make her way to work.

 

Work… her first day as a cop. It was enough to make her smile at the thought of it all. Giggling softly, the young woman pushed herself up from her bed and made her way to her bathroom and started to brush her long blue hair free of tangles. Brushed her teeth, washed her face to help wake herself up. Made sure to put on her deodorant. Laughing softly to herself, she wondered how everyone at the precinct would react to her even being there in the first place.

 

Shaking her head, the young woman made her way back to her bedroom and pulled out her uniform for the day. It was a simple outfit to be honest. On her frame though, it almost seemed like a second skin. Slipping it on, she grabbed the black ballistic vest that seemed to stick out to the blue colour of her uniform shirt. Though, the vest itself just ended between her breasts and stomach.

 

Next were her dark blue pants with grey knee pads and her black utility belt. Taking a look at herself in the mirror, she couldn’t help but feel a little exposed for the most part. Though, for now it was her uniform, she would have to get used to it for the most part. Looking over, she saw her badge on her table and smiled softly. On the shiny badge was her name, ‘Hinata Hyuuga’ and she couldn’t help but feel proud of herself.

 

Letting out a soft sigh of content, she picked it up and pinned it to her vest before making her way to the door. Grabbing her black combat boots, she slid them on before making her way out the door. It was the start of a new day, and a new life for her. Though, she wondered, what would be out there for her. So many possibilities yet still so many things that will happen for her. Though, she felt like she was forgetting something then…

 

Turning her gaze, she saw it on the table near her door. It was the pouch that held the sutras that her father had given her. She almost wanted to scoff at the idea of her needing something like that. It wasn’t like she would have a reason, any reason really, to ever need such a thing while on duty.

 

What was the worse that could happen anyway? A fox demon getting a little riled up and wanting to pick a fight with her? Would they even bother to when she would unleash some of her spiritual power as a warning?

 

Taking a long look at it, Hinata couldn’t help but just wonder though. Would they even listen to her in the first place because she was a human? Would they, try to pick a fight with her because they would think that she was weak and not even be afraid of her power in the first place? Frowning a little, she just couldn’t help but wonder if that was going to be the case… yet, she didn’t think she would need it. Again, what other reason would she need such a silly thing.

 

Her father wouldn’t know if she had it with her in the first place right? Not unless he called her on duty and checked up on her. Then again, he wouldn’t call her while he thought she was working. After all, she told him that for the first few months, she would be working days so he would only call her at night right now.

 

 Smiling to herself, Hinata was sure that everything would be fine. Grabbing her keys and opening the door wider, she stepped out into the hallway and locked the door. Taking a few steps away, the young woman started to hum softly to herself until… a sudden thought struck her. What if she had a repeat of what happened when she was a child? Reaching up, she touched her cheek once again, something that she was starting to think was becoming a nasty habit of hers while thinking about foxes.

 

Would they really attack her? What if she isn’t so lucky this time around with a fox like when she was a child? Turning back to her apartment, Hinata wondered _’Am I being silly? Should I take it with me in case I would need it?’_ she thought to herself, thinking over and over again, that she wouldn’t need something so childish in the first place but… her fear won this round.

 

Walking back, she unlocked the door and grabbed the pouch. Strapping it onto her thigh before she started to make her way to work. “I’m letting my father’s worries consume me…” She said to herself, though maybe this will help her for the time being. If she kept it on her for now, and saw that foxes were no threat to her now, she would be alright. And of course, she wouldn’t need the silly thing anymore at all. She’d be okay, and Hinata knew this but… deep in her heart she wondered if she would ever let go of the slight fear of fox demons. More so, ones with more than one tail for the time being. The one on the train didn’t bother her much, he only had one tail so not as much power but… yet he held a lot of power…

 

 _’Don’t think about it, you’ll just worry yourself… just get to work!’_  thought Hinata before making her way to the precinct.


	4. Parking Duty

Hinata had managed to find the precinct without a problem. Though, it was a bit of a walk for her but, again nothing she couldn’t handle. Taking a deep breath, she couldn’t help but look up at the building with wide eyes. It was just so hard to believe that this was where her dreams, hard work, and determination had taken her. A soft smile spread across her face as she started to make her way inside. Even now though, she could sense all of the demonic aura that seemed to emit from the building.

 

The young woman started to open the door and couldn’t help but stare in open awe at the inside. The area was completely open. Looking up, she saw the many upper floors, it was almost as if the inside of the building was just a big circle.

 

The stairs themselves just went up a spiral, it almost made her dizzy just thinking about it honestly. Blinking her eyes quickly, the young woman made her way over to the front desk. It, just like pretty much everything here was a big circle that had a swinging door for the one behind the desk to just come and go as they please. It had her curious as to what kind of people her coworkers were. Would they be nice? Would they treat her differently because she was a human? Hm, she’d have to keep her powers on the down low for now, not wanting to cause any kind of issues.

 

Taking another look around, she saw many demons walking by. Some of them all appeared completely human other than the pointed ears or odd markings. Must be elemental demons. Others, had animal appendages much like that fox demon on the train. Again, she found her hand rubbing her cheek, causing her to frown a bit. Would she ever stop that habit of hers?

 

Shaking her head, Hinata made her way over to the desk and couldn’t help but stare at the man that was sitting there, munching on some chips. From what scent she could smell from her location, it smelled like BBQ flavoured.

 

He was tall a little taller than her, short brown hair smoothed out at the sides, though had a bit of a spikiness to it. He was a bit of a plump fellow though not fat. He had two pinkish swirls on his cheeks and a goatee for facial hair. Though sticking out of his back were a pair of beautiful butterfly wings. They almost seemed to swirl with energy, as if they weren’t made of flesh and blood, but just out of his own demonic energy if that was even possible.

 

Sure, she had heard of some butterfly demons being able to do this, but to see one in person? It was a sight of its own. He wore the usual blue police uniform, blue suit, blue tie, and of course his badge pinned to his shirt. He seemed friendly enough, so that had to mean something right? Gulping a bit, she made her way over to the desk as she said “Excuse me?”

 

The man turned to Hinata and blinked at her, as if it was his first time meeting a human. Though, if she was honest with herself, she’d find that hard to believe since pretty much everyone in the city was a human. Sure, there were demons as well but there were just more humans than demons that was for sure. “Oh, my god… they did hire a human officer.” He said with shock, only to grin a big grin on his face. “I won’t lie, when they said that they were bringing in a human officer I didn’t think you’d be so pretty.”

 

Hinata blushed at the compliment. Maybe he didn’t see too many women that often, though looking around she saw that there were indeed a handful of women officers here. Maybe he just didn’t think human women were that good looking perhaps?

 

“So, what has you stop by my desk Ms?” The man said with a frown on his face.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m Hinata Hyuuga.” She said with a smile before saying “And, well, I don’t know where I’m supposed to go for roll call.” The man blinked at her only to grin himself. He sure did seem friendly enough that was something at least. Though, it had her curious as to why he just stayed at this desk, did he not like going out on the field or he just preferred to hold down the fort so to speak?

 

“Ah right, sorry Ms. Hyuuga. I’m Choji Akimichi. But you can call me Choji.” He said with a grin still in place.

 

“And you can call me Hinata.” She said, returning his smile. Yeah, he really was friendly. Maybe she could make friends here after all. Though, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that she could do about the slight feeling of demonic aura that surrounded this place. In fact, some of it seemed angry at her, as if just her being here was enough to anger them all. Yet, she didn’t feel any of that from Choji. He just seemed so happy just to see someone like her here in the first place.

 

“Okay Hinata, anyway, you just have to go down that hall over there.” He said, pointing to the left at a doorway. “After that, you have to keep going down the hall until you can’t anymore and turn left. After that, first door on the right.” Hinata looked back up at him and smiled at him, nodding her thanks before she started to make her way to roll call. “Bye Hinata!” called Choji.

 

“Bye Choji, thank you!” Hinata called out as she waved at him, a smile on her face.

 

Though, after she left, Choji couldn’t help but frown in concern for her. He knew that everyone wasn’t happy with the idea of a human becoming a cop. It caused him to worry for the human when she would arrive, now that he saw her? He worried more. Hinata seemed like an innocent woman for sure, but was she ready to see the harsh reality of how some demons treat humans? Even by today’s standards? “I hope she’ll be okay…” He mumbled to himself before getting back to his paper work.

 

* * *

  


 

Hinata followed Choji’s directions to a T. She had no trouble finding the Bull Pen she thinks that’s what it was called. If she remembered, it was where they had to receive their assignments and she hoped that she would get a good job for the day. Maybe she would be able to stop some kind of robber or car thief. Oh the possibilities were endless for her at this point! Smiling happily, the young woman hummed softly as arrived at the door. This was it, the moment of truth for her. She knew that she had to be careful, or else there was a chance for her that she wouldn’t be able to call herself a cop at this point.

 

Not with all the work that she had done, just to prove to others that she was worth her badge. Taking a deep breath, the young woman opened the door and blinked at all the demons that were in the room. Some were animal based, much like what she saw in the hall today, some were elementals or plant based demons. It was hard to believe that she would be surrounded by demons every day compared to humans.

 

Yup, this would be her life from now on, and she knew this.

 

Taking a deep breath, she started to make her way into the room, watching as many people were chatting among themselves, a tiger and lion demon were arm wrestling to pass the time while they waited for their chief to come in. It was puzzling, though she knew that she was hoping that the chief was a good leader for when he came in here.

 

Taking a deep breath, she watched as a few people were now starting to stare at her. As if they had just finally sensed that she had arrived at long last. Had it been that odd for them to just notice her? Okay, maybe a bit. Though, she also saw a few of them flinch a bit, did they sense her sacred power? That was off for them to be able to sense it, since she had tried her hardest to keep her powers hidden. Even Choji didn’t act as if he sensed her power, unless he wasn’t as in tuned with sacred power as other demons.

 

Taking another look around, she saw that there was one chair left, it was the only chair really. Must have been for her since she was the only new person here that she could remember. At least she didn’t have to deal with her ex-roommate. That was one person that she didn’t want to deal with again, that woman was… well, she had no nice word about her in the least.

 

Inhaling softly, the young woman made her way over to the seat, feeling everyone’s stares drilling themselves into her back. It almost felt unreal to be here right now, yet she knew that this was the dream that she had worked so hard to achieve. This was only a stepping stone, a way to test the waters so to speak. Turning her gaze over to the man that sat beside her, a wolf demon. She could faintly tell that much with the way his hair seemed to seem to fluff about slightly around his ears, almost like a husky in a way. His curled upward tail just laid lazily out the back of his chair as if this day itself was nothing of importance to him.

 

His gaze though, it was on her, as if he was trying to figure out if she was a demon, and what kind of demon she could be. Hinata gulped a bit, feeling nervous about him for a moment. Putting up a smile, she held out her hand in a friendly manner, hoping that he would be friendly. “Hello, I’m Hinata Hyuuga, I hope we get to work well together from here on out.” She hoped that she sounded friendly and confident, because right now, at this very moment her confidence wavered only slightly before regaining strength.

 

The man just stared at her, his golden yellow eyes almost seemed to want to burn a hole within her head, into her very soul. How was it that his gaze made Hinata want to pull her hand back in fear even though he had yet to say anything to her at all? It just seemed a little unreal to her right now, maybe this was some kind of nightmare that she hadn’t been able to wake up from right now.

 

His gaze shifted to her outstretched hand, before turning back to her eyes. Had he expected something else from her other than a handshake?

 

“You’re human are you not?” he asked suddenly, causing Hinata to blink at him in confusion before nodding her head slowly. She was about to open her mouth to say something before he said “You shouldn’t be here. This is a job not fit for a dirt ball like you.” Hinata flinched at that, so he was another demon that didn’t believe that humans could do what demons could if they put their minds to it. Was that how all the demons in the room felt toward her right now? That she couldn’t handle the job just because she was nothing but a human? “Maybe, you should return where you came from and just get a normal job for a human woman like yourself.” He tried to sound polite, yet she could hear a smugness to his tone that she couldn’t deny or accept.

 

Hinata was about to speak, wanted to retaliate to this man. His words, were not acceptable. Yet, she couldn’t think of the right words, she just didn’t have it in her to have an insult. It just wasn’t her, Hinata never believed in insulting others, no matter the kind of wrong they had done to her… even now, she just couldn’t do it. It just wasn’t in her heart to insult people. Regardless if they were human, or demon.

 

It was then, that the door opened. Everyone turned their gaze to the front of the room as someone called out “Everyone, listen up! The Chief is arriving!” Everyone started to bang on their tables, cheering as the Chief started to walk on inside. Walking inside was a tall man, slender no doubt but she could easily tell that he wasn’t a weakling. She could faintly see muscle under his blue uniform. Four stars resided on his shoulders as he walked over to the podium.

 

His hair, long and silver as it defied all gravity yet almost seemed to slide over to the side for some reason. Yet, the moment he turned so he could face everyone, Hinata finally got what it was that had caused his hair to tilt the way it did. Around his head was a headband with a leaf symbol in the center. It almost made her think of the headbands that ninjas would wear to represent what village they were from, it was rather odd, but she couldn’t help but stare in awe.

 

Yet, now that she got a better look, she saw that the headband was tilted over his left eye. Though she could faintly see a small scar poking out the bottom of the headband, while it seemed that he had tried to cover the other part of that scar with the face mask he had that covered the bottom half of his face.  His skin though, it was so pale, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that could have made him so pale like this…

 

Turning her gaze, she looked at his one visible eye, it was so dark that it reminded her of the night sky in a way, though, she thought that she could see storm clouds within his eyes. Hm, it had her curious as to if he was a thunder elemental demon. Lifting her gaze, she saw that he had a pair of fuzzy ears resting atop of his head. An animal demon that can use an element? Possible.

 

The ears, were a little more pointed than a dog’s, though a little shorter than a wolf. Maybe he was a mix breed of demon? It was possible, there were more and more mix breeds than pure breeds anymore. Odd that she didn’t see a tail from him, unless he didn’t have a tail or she missed it.

 

“Quiet!” shouted the man, causing everyone to silence themselves and sit at attention. Okay, this man sure did have a voice to him, though it made her wonder if he was the chief. “I have a few things I’d like to say first.” Taking a deep breath, he turned to a man whom sat in the back of the room as he said “Gaara, happy birthday.” Everyone started to cheer and clap, Hinata turned her gaze and stared at the man who was getting pats on the back. He had red hair, pale skin and black rings around his eyes. Made her wonder if he had trouble sleeping.

 

His eyes were a pale shade of green she thinks, couldn’t really tell from this distance. Though like everyone else, he wore the police uniform, though she couldn’t help but notice the gourd on the floor next to him. Sensing something off about him, she couldn’t help but wonder what kind of demon he was, it was rather confusing though for now, she just clapped her hands, when the man turned his head to smile at a few people, and she noticed the tattoo on his forehead… the kanji for love was written there. What was that about?

 

Shaking her head, the young woman turned back to the chief as he looked back down at the papers in his hand. He took a glance at them as he said “First off, we have some new recruits. Such as our, first human officer.” Hinata smiled a bit at hearing that, at least she was being acknowledge about something for once. Yet, her hopes had been dashed. “But no one cares.” He then turned back to the paper works. Hinata just sighed softly. Of course, another human hater, or someone whom didn’t believe in her at the moment. She listened to what was being said from the chief, something about some missing people.

 

“Okay, as you all know we have fourteen missing cases. All of them, are demons. Though, there are no exact link to them, other than the fact that only demons are being hunted. It doesn’t matter on what kind of demon, or what this demon can do. The only thing that seems to be a link, a connection, is that they all have demonic aura, blood or power.” Explained the chief as he pulled down what looked like to be a chart that had many pictures of the missing demons. She couldn’t help but stare at them, taking a careful look at their faces as she hoped to memorize them all.

 

“Chief Kakashi, wasn’t there only twelve just yesterday?” asked a cop.

 

“Yes, but since then two more have gone missing.” Answered the Chief.

 

This confused her. What could people gain from taking demons in the first place? Where could they be? Hinata felt like there was some kind of secret plot to all of this, that there was something off about the whole thing, but she just couldn’t think of what it could be. “Now, I have case files set up for different sections and different cops.” He then started to call out the cops who seemed to be paired up and handed them different case files. Hinata couldn’t help but wait calmly for her own task for the day. Though, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that she would do.

 

“And finally,” He began, turning his gaze to Hinata as he said “Our first human. Parking duty, dismissed.” Hinata stared in shock. Was that all he was going to have her do?! Parking duty of all things? That was… that was! Soon, he started to walk out of the room, no, she had to stop him before he left and she had to stick to parking duty! There was no way that she would allow this to happen to her!

 

“Chief Kakashi, wait!” called Hinata, causing the man to wait as he slowly turned to stare at her. “Sir, there are fourteen missing demon cases.”

 

“Yes, and?”

 

“Well, wouldn’t I be more helpful to be on the case rather than parking duty?” asked Hinata with a frown.

 

“You are only a new recruit Hyuuga. Frankly, there is no way that a human could solve a case like this, let alone someone on their first day.” Kakashi answered coldly.

 

“But, I was the top of my class at the academy.”

 

“I know this, and I don’t care.”

 

“But…”

 

“If you are so concerned, then handing out a hundred tickets shouldn’t be so hard.” With that, he walked out of the room, leaving a defeated Hinata behind.

 

The blue haired woman took a deep breath, hoping to calm herself down. There had to be something that she could do, there had to be a way to prove that she was a real cop and not some, some meter maid! Taking a deep breath once more, she calmly said “I won’t hand out a hundred tickets, I’ll hand out two hundred! Before noon…” She said with a serious look on her face. With her task in mind, she would prove to everyone that she was every bit of a cop as any demon! Even if it was to be a meter maid today.


	5. Ice Cream Purches

Hinata felt a little silly wearing the orange vest and the silly rounded hat. To be honest, this was not what she had expected her first day to be like. Not even close. Staring at herself in the review mirror, she couldn’t help but frown. She really did look silly, and it made her blush a little thinking that people were going to look at her like she was some pathetic human. (Or at least more so than usual) Just thinking about it made her frown a little more.

 

Yet, she knew that she had to do her job, if she was to get any kind of respect from everyone here, then she had to do something! This may be her only chance at doing anything to be honest.

 

Taking a deep breath, the young woman tried to keep herself calm, tried to keep herself composed as she would do her job. Checking her tool belt, she made sure that she had her ticket printer, her pen in case her printer broke, and a ticket pad. Though, it had her curious, why did Chief Kakashi stare at her like he… hated her already? Sure, everyone else didn’t like the idea as if her being in the department was some kind of ungodly sin but him? He just looked like he just hated the idea of her being there because of… well… something.

 

Whatever it was, she had no idea, but she knew that she had to be careful, or else there was no telling what would happen. There was no point in stepping on anyone’s toes at this point.

 

Letting out a sad sigh, she made her way over to the car that was made to keep her as the demons call it ‘safe’. It sure as hell didn’t look very safe to her. It didn’t have doors it was a two seater scooter that almost looked like a car. Though, it had three wheels instead of two like a scooter would have or, four wheel drive like a car. Either way, it either lacked or had one too many wheels. Shaking her head, the young woman made her way into the car and started to dig into her bag as she pulled out some CD’s that she had brought with her. At least she had came prepared for this right now. If she was only to hand out tickets, may as well listen to some good music that she had downloaded with her.

 

Smiling at the thought, the young woman let out a soft sigh as she started to go through her CD’s and started to figure out which one had all of the new songs on it that she rather enjoyed. Yet, there was something that she just couldn’t think on what she would want to listen to. “Why couldn’t I have label these?” She mumbled to herself before picking one at random and started to slip it into the CD player in the car.

 

Taking a deep breath, hoping to calm her nerves the young woman stared down at the steering wheel, knowing that this was not a real cruiser like she had hoped it would have been. Knowing that she was still far from where she should have been right now in her job but, she wouldn’t let that get her down. Looking around the empty garage, she couldn’t help but wonder what she could do. There was still so much that she needed to learn, but knew that she still had to be careful, after all she didn’t want to use her sacred powers unless she needed too. So far, that didn’t seem to be the case, even if that one demon needed a good slap with sacred energy embedded into her hand to prove to him that she didn’t need him to judge her because she was human.

 

“Then again, they may end up hating me more if they knew.” Hinata whispered, not expecting a real answer from anyone really. Sitting here sadly wasn’t going to get her job done faster, the quicker she was done, the sooner she could just get on home and hope and pray that tomorrow would have a better opportunity for her. May as well head on out and get those two hundred tickets out before noon. Maybe if she had proven herself capable of this, then Chief would see that she wasn’t just some human woman that needed to be protected when she could easily protect herself.

 

Inhaling deeply once more, her nerves feeling a little more relaxed, Hinata revved up the engine and started to drive out of the garage, closing it behind her with the wireless control that was built into the car that, of course could only be used by scanning her badge over it. Smiling to herself, the young woman looked out her car and up into the sky. At least it was a beautiful day to be outside right now.

 

“I just hope I have no trouble today. Oh! Maybe there is an opportunity for me out there today!” Hinata said with a big smile on her face before driving away from the garage and started to make her way down further into the city. Though, she couldn’t help but feel like there was something wrong in the city, now that she thought about it she felt some kind of odd demonic energy around this city though, it didn’t seem like it was from a demon yet, at the same time it was… human energy that seemed to have twisted into something so… evil.

 

Shrugging to herself, she figured that maybe that was just the criminals that resided in the city. After all, what are the odds for someone to be so twisted for their own energy to become this way? Not a hell of a lot that was for sure. “May as well get this day started and over with. The sooner it’s done, the sooner I can get home and hope that tomorrow will be better for me.”

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata drove around, wandering around as she handed out tickets. Hoping that today would go by quickly. Though, if she was honest with herself, giving out the parking tickets was rather, dull and boring. It almost seemed as if people who were losers or who couldn’t amount to anything were stuck with this task. Frowning a little at the thought of it, Hinata couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the Chief put her on this task for a reason.

 

Shaking her head, she turned to her stereo and hit another button to skip to another song that had been playing. All she wanted was to finish this day, and maybe try to talk to Choji. He at least seemed nice to her, he didn’t judge her in anyway at all. For that, she was grateful, yet the other cops… they seemed to hate her more than anything all because she was human. “I’ll show them that I am worthy of being a cop! Doesn’t matter that I’m human!” Hinata declared to herself, hoping and praying that she could prove them wrong that she could do her job.

 

Yet, that was easier said than done she thinks. After all, for now she was stuck on parking duty, and had a feeling that she would be for a while. Shaking those thoughts from her head, the young woman knew that she had to be careful, had to make sure that she didn’t do anything stupid on the job. She had to make sure that she managed to do her job properly and therefore, just get herself from parking duty to active duty.

 

Smiling at the idea, the young woman looked forward to when she would be on active duty. Just thinking about it, it made her think about how her first bust would go and of course her first arrest. Smiling all the more, the young woman just giggled a little more before she stopped when she saw a few parking meters had timed out. Smiling to herself, she made her way over to the cars that didn’t have time left on the meters and started to work on the tickets. Though, she couldn’t help but notice that that also hadn’t done the chalk lines either. _’I’ll have to make sure I do that too…’_  she thought to herself before putting the tickets on the windshields.

 

After that, she made her way back to her car and drove off. Grabbing her chalk and the poll that it was attached too. It did make it easier to just chalk it up as she drove by. After all, just getting out of the car and chalking up every single car would just make things harder for her. Why do that if she could do it this way. Grinning from ear to ear, the young woman started to drive by, holding out the chalk wand as she drove by.

 

She’d have to come back later to make sure that the cars had left or not. Though, she hoped and prayed that today would get easier. At least, she hoped that things would get easier for her.

 

 

Taking a deep breath, the young woman looked around, wanting to make sure that she also kept her gaze out for any signs of trouble as she was out around town. May as well do another part of her job so long as she could help it anyway. Tilting her head, she couldn’t help but wonder why she couldn’t find anything really. The town almost felt a bit… calm? Relaxed maybe? Well, unless you count that weird energy that was just floating around the city.

 

Maybe her father had an idea about it, she’d have to contact him at some point this week perhaps. Yet, it made her curious as to what it could be now. “This is going to bug me until I figure it out. Maybe the library has an idea.” Hinata mumbled to herself, hoping and praying that even if her father had no idea, that she could at least get the idea from a book, a record if you will.

 

Over the course of a few hours, Hinata had managed to hand out all the tickets that she saw fit. There were tickets that seemed out of reach but she proved it thanks to climbing up a street sign and jumping up onto a car that, she figured belonged to an Oni demon. These were the only cars that were huge, taller than the average human. Maybe that was another reason why they didn’t have many humans as cops or at all for that matter. It would take up a lot of strength just to get to the top of the car to the first place.

 

Taking another look around, she saw that many people were just, out and about and having the time of their lives. This was something that she wanted to protect, she wanted to protect their happiness and joy. Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman knew that this was the one reason why she wanted to protect people. Letting out a soft smile, she knew that there was still much that she had to do for the people of Utopia.

 

“I just hope and pray that I can save them all no matter what. To keep them safe and happy.” Hinata vowed to herself.

 

Grinning to herself, she looked down at her computer that printed out her last ticket as she placed it on the last car of the hour. Blinking her eyes in shock, Hinata couldn’t believe it. Looking up at the time, she saw that it was only five minutes to noon, and… she had handed out two hundred tickets with five minutes to spare! “Wow! I can’t believe it, I did it! I was able to hand out two hundred tickets before noon!” Laughing to herself happily, Hinata just couldn’t help but smile to herself, it just seemed like nothing more than a dream. Maybe if she brought all of this in, she can prove to the chief that she was ready to be out on the streets as a real cop!

 

Suddenly, a car horn reached her ears, causing her to turn to the source. What she saw almost made her freeze.

 

“Watch where you’re going fox!” shouted a man in a large truck. Must be transporting some furniture or something, though that wasn’t the only thing she noticed. Standing on the other side of the car’s path was a fox demon. Not just any fox demon, but the same one that she saw on the train while she was on her way here to Utopia. He had his arms raised as if wondering what the driver’s problem with him was before he started to walk away.

 

The man wore the same outfit as the last time she saw him. He had his hands in his pockets before stopping in front of what could tell, was an ice cream pallor. Why would he stop there? Was he in the mood for some ice cream?

 

No, that look on his face itself, it told her that he was up to something. His smirk was far too carefree, eyes held a small glint to them as a sign that he was about to do something that he had wanted to do for a while. Narrowing her own eyes at him, Hinata placed a hand on her cheek, still feeling the faint scars on her cheek from when she had been clawed as a child.

 

 _’He’s up to something…’_  thought Hinata before carefully making her way across the street. She hid behind a car as she watched him go into the store. Okay, he just seemed to have walked into the ice cream parlor so that had to mean something. Was he really going to steel from them or was he just thinking of something else? It had her curious as to what he was going to do.

 

Carefully, she walked closer to the doors and saw that the doors were huge. Must be made this way for this place must be popular for Oni Demon’s for the most part. Why would he come here of all places? There was no way that he could defeat an Oni Demon, he was only a single tailed fox demon, so there was no way that he could be that powerful right? Even if her senses weren’t so far off about the energy that she was sensing from him.

 

Shaking her head, the young woman made her way into the store and closed it carefully behind her. Looking around, she saw that there was already a line that made her wonder just how many people had managed to sneak in without her noticing. Tilting her head a bit to the side, she started to walk forward a bit when she saw that the fox stood in the front of the line, hands in his pockets as he gazed up at the Oni Demon that ran the counter. “Look, can’t you go somewhere else Fox?” asked the Oni causing Hinata to frown.

 

“Well, this is the closest place that sells Ice Cream near my apartment.” Calmly answered the fox. A frown clearly seen on his face from where she stood.

 

The Oni just rolled his eyes as he said “I’m sure there are Ice Cream stores in the Fox Demon part of town.” Okay, hearing that made Hinata frown all the more. He was starting to sound like a jerk. Looking down at her hand, she couldn’t believe that her hand was hovering over the pouch on her thigh, causing her to feel ashamed of herself. Looking away, she tried to leave but more of the conversation reached her ears.

 

“I would but, I just want to buy a Jumbo Pop for my kid.” That had caused Hinata to turn and stare at a little boy that had crimson hair and big and bright crimson eyes. He wore a simple red skinned onesie that covered most of his body. Was that also a hoodie on his outfit too? That was adorable! “See, he loves Oni Demons, he tries to transform into one during his lessons but he still struggles.” The older Fox Demon said with a small chuckle. Turning to the little boy, he said “Isn’t that right son?” The little boy nodded before the older blonde fox ruffled his hair. “So, which one do you want? Red, or blue?”

 

The little boy made his way over to the glass case that held the giant popsicles. It was huge, how would a little boy eat that? He pointed to the red one, a big smile on his face as he looked up at the blonde fox demon. Though, the Oni Demon shooed the kid away, causing Hinata’s heart to reach out to the little boy. “Look, I don’t know why you bothered to waste my time but unless you can read, then you should be able to see this sign here.” The Oni then moved a sign to the counter, in big bold print, the Oni read out “We have the right to refuse service to anyone!”

 

The older fox just sighed softly. He sounded so disappointed that he couldn’t get the treat for his son. So many people behind him were getting angry for having to wait for something that looked like it wouldn’t happen for them in the first place. She felt like she had to do something before they got kicked out just for wanting to get something for his son. “Excuse me!” Hinata called out, causing everyone to look at her in confusion.

 

“What do you want Meter Maid?” asked the Oni.

 

“Actually, it’s Officer.” Hinata corrected with a smile in place. “But, I think you should serve this father and his son some ice cream. After all, I could easily send in to the health board about a health code violation.” Hinata said, her smile still in place. That had caused the Oni to look at them with a frown on his face and slight fear in his eyes. The two foxes looked at her with surprise on their faces, as if they hadn’t expected her at all to come and help them.

 

“What are you talking about?” asked the Oni.

 

“Well, I’m afraid that from what I can see, some of your workers aren’t wearing any gloves or hair nets. That itself is a health code violation.” Hinata began, her hands folded behind her back. “Now, unless you want your wonderful establishment closed down then I suggest you sell this father and his son a…” Hinata frowned a bit as she looked over at the older Fox Demon, staring into his blue eyes as she asked “What was it again?”

 

Turning his gaze away, he looked back up at the Oni as he said “A Jumbo Pop, please.”

 

“A Jumbo Pop.” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

Letting out a sigh of defeat, the Oni calmly said “Its fifteen dollars.” Hinata couldn’t help but smile at the idea that she had won a battle for someone. Even if it wasn’t a huge battle, it was still something at the very least. Yet, she couldn’t help but wonder, was it that bad for some demons here? She had no idea, but she knew that she would have to do something to help those who couldn’t speak up.

 

“Uh oh.” Came a voice, causing Hinata to turn to the blonde fox as she saw that he was patting himself down for his wallet. “I must have left it at home!” He groaned a little before turning to his son. “I’m sorry buddy.” Letting out a soft sigh, he rubbed his neck as he said “I’d lose my own head if it wasn’t attached to me.” Turning back to his kid, he gently grabbed his hand as he started to walk out. Hinata couldn’t believe this, they had come here to get ice cream and yet they couldn’t even do that. Frowning a little, she reached into her pocket and pulled out some cash.

 

Jumping up onto the counter, she said “Keep the change.” There was no way that she would allow it to end like this. A little boy deserved to have a nice treat once in a while, she had to do something even if it wasn’t much. The older man grabbed the popsicle and smiled over at Hinata, causing her to smile back at him in return. Looking down at the little boy, he looked up at him and held up his hand as if asking her to hold onto it. Smiling in return, she walked with him and his father out of the store. “I am so sorry that you had to go through that.” Hinata whispered as she walked with them out of the store.

 

“It’s alright, I’ve grown used to it over the years. I had hoped that if I had my kid with me that it would have been easier. Guess not.” Said the older fox before letting out a soft sigh. Turning to Hinata, he chuckled a little before saying “But, you saved us back there. I don’t know how to repay you Officer…?”

 

“Hinata Hyuuga.” Hinata said with a smile, soon she saw the man hold out his hand to shake hers. She couldn’t help but smile as she gave him her hand and shook it.

 

“Uzumaki, Naruto Uzumaki.” He said with a smile of his own. Turning to his kid, he saw that the little boy was holding out his hands. “Okay, here ya go Birthday Boy. Two hands now.” The little boy happily held onto the big stick that held the icy cold treat. Smiling up at the two adults, the young man turned back to the blue haired officer as he said “Thanks again. Now, say thank you Kurama.”

 

“Thank you.” The little boy said in the cutest voice that she ever heard. Hinata almost wanted to squeal in joy at the thought of it but, she didn’t think that there was a point in hurting their ears. Even she knew that demons had very sensitive hearing.

 

 

“You’re welcome.” Said Hinata as she knelt down in front of the little boy. “Here, I think a good boy deserves this. After all, you’re in Utopia, you want to be able to transform into an Oni? Then you’ll be able too. You can be anything you want after all.” She giggled softly before sticking a sticker badge on the boy’s outfit, much like how it had been done for her when she was younger. Looking back up at the older man, she couldn’t help but smile at him. “I hope to see you again. Just let the cops know if there are anything else wrong okay?”

 

“Sure, no problem. See ya later Officer.” The older man waved good bye as he walked off with his kid. Hinata started to wave at them as she watch them all walk away. Yet, there was one thing that had just struck her right then and there. If she had seen him on the train, and he was by himself, did that mean that he was on vacation or, did he just find out about having a kid? Hm, that was rather puzzling though for now it wasn’t her business anyway.

 

Oh well, she may as well go back to handing out tickets. She still had hours left in her shift before she had to bring in all of these tickets. Yet, her thoughts kept on wandering back to the Fox Demon that had walked into the store, where had the little boy been beforehand, she hadn’t seen him with the child before walking into the store so, had the little boy just ran on ahead of his father or had they just met up before she even got in there? So many questions and so little answers.


	6. Con Man

Later on that day, Hinata had spent most of the time handing out tickets. It was rather odd that she hadn’t been called in for some kind of assignment but, then again she had a feeling that it wouldn’t be like that right now. Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman looked up at the time, it was well past noon, and she was starting to get hungry. Checking her pockets, she was about to see how much money she had until she remembered…

 

She gave up her last bit of cash for that Fox Demon and his kid.

 

“I’m hungry. I’ll have to ask dad for some cash.” Hinata said with a sigh before making her way to another car only to frown when she saw a reflection in the windshield. Turning her gaze, she smiled when she saw the little kid that was with Naruto. “Oh it’s the little… fox… kit?” She frowned a little more when she saw the little fox kit holding a jar and setting it down a drain pipe and some kind of red juice was coming out of the pipe.

 

Hinata couldn’t help but stare upward as she stared at who was on the roof. Standing there on the roof was Naruto, he wore a pair of sunglasses as he had the giant popsicle on some kind of stand to allow the sun to melt it and allowing the juice to go down the roof. The blonde man had a grin on his face as he grabbed a hold of the stick and bouncing it up and down a few times to get the remains of the cold treat off.

 

After that, he jumped down on the roof shingles and slid down before jumping off of the roof and landing on the ground. “Come on Kurama, let’s get the gig started in a bit. I’ll need you to go make these popsicles so I can go and sell some things that I made.”

 

The child, transformed into a tall man with long crimson locks that was pulled back in a low ponytail just below his shoulders. His bangs hid his eyes for the most part, though you could still make out his crimson coloured eyes. “Alright Naruto, but just hurry up alright? I can easily use my tails to help pour the juice but other than that, it shouldn’t take me too long. Where are you going? I’ll drop you off.”

 

“It’s in Tundra Town.”

 

“Have to go there to make the popsicles anyway. It shouldn’t be away from our usual spot right?” Kurama said with a chuckle.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Then come on idiot. Get in the van and we can get started.” Kurama grumbled before getting in the driver’s seat. Naruto sighed softly before hopping in the back before the van drove off.

 

Hinata didn’t know what had happened, but she knew one thing. That both of those fox’s had tricked her. She couldn’t help but be mad, be angry really. How dare they trick her! Don’t they know that she was a cop? That she could easily throw their asses in jail without a single thought? Narrowing her eyes, Hinata got in her car and started to follow them. Whatever it was that they were doing, it couldn’t be good, nor legal for that matter.

 

Rubbing her cheek, Hinata wondered what it was that they were doing. It was rather hard for her to keep up with them in her car, though she knew that she also had to keep out of their sight just so they wouldn’t get suspicious of anything that was going to happen.

 

As she followed them, she noticed that the van that they used with a huge van, big enough for someone to just relax in the back if they had too. It was rather odd for them to come out in this place, it was starting to get colder and colder, made Hinata wish that she had brought her jacket with her. Though, at least for now her car would blend in for now, and that it was heated so long as she stayed within it. Even though it didn’t have doors, it still had a damn good heater.

 

As she pulled over, she saw that the van had stopped in an open field. She could faintly make out what they were saying as the foxes got out of the van, the cold not seeming to bother them in the least. “Naruto, there is the building you wanted, come out here and help me out when you get a chance to alright?” Kurama said while pointing at the building.

 

“Yeah, it shouldn’t take me long.” Naruto said with a chuckle before he made a mad dash in the building using what seemed to be his demonic speed.

 

Hinata couldn’t help but watch, while she knew what Kurama was doing, okay she didn’t yet. But she had to know what it was that Naruto was doing. Carefully, she drove to the building that Kurama had pointed too, wondering what it was that he had to do in that building. Yes, she didn’t know Utopia very well, though it seemed that neither did this Naruto guy.

 

But, at the same time it seemed like he did. How that was, she had no idea, though she knew that she still had to be careful not to get herself caught. As she followed the fox, she saw that he had met someone outside, the man was huddled in an oversized coat as he met with Naruto and held out the some kind of sheet of paper to the fox. Naruto pulled out his own sheet of paper and mumbled something to the man, something about the ‘song’ was ready for him. The man nodded as he looked over the song, humming loud enough for Naruto to hear it, though from where Hinata was she could hear it as well.

 

The only other thing that she could make out, was Naruto talking about some kind of ‘deal’ about the songs, something about the song though she couldn’t fully make out what it was that he was talking about. That was rather odd though, the man had agreed to the terms before allowing Naruto to sign the other paper and handing it back to the man to sign it. Only for the other man to hand it back to Naruto with a smile and walking back inside.

 

Naruto let out a soft sigh before making his way back toward Kurama with his speed. Hinata, of course was thankful that she was still kept hidden from the fox demon. Yet, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that the man had done with that guy. It was rather odd, that Naruto would talk about a song of all things. Shrugging to herself, she made her way over to where Kurama had been left behind and couldn’t help at what it was that they were making.

 

It seemed that Kurama had transformed into a small fox, using his paws to make prints in the snow while using his tails to place down sticks. Naruto, pouring the juice from the melted jumbo pop over the prints as they allowed it all to freeze. Kurama, must have been working on it while Naruto was gone since he had already been half done by the time Naruto had returned, what were they trying to do?

 

“So Naruto, what did you think of that cop that helped us out?” asked Kurama.

 

“Don’t know, don’t care. She is just like everyone else Kurama.” Grumbled Naruto as he kept up with his work. That had confused Hinata, what did he mean by that? Does he really judge people before he really gets to know them? Well, that wouldn’t stop her from arresting him if he broke the law.

 

“Well, she was kind of cute for a human.” Said Kurama with a frown on his face.

 

“You and your human fetish.” Grumbled Naruto before finishing up. “Okay, let’s start collecting these so we can sell them.”

 

 

After that, Hinata could only watch as the foxes started to collect the frozen treats from the first row as it was most likely that they had frozen first due to the freezing cold temperature. Hinata couldn’t help but wonder what they would do with them, she knew that they had said that they were going to sell them, but how? Would anyone really buy something like that in the first place? Shaking her head, the young woman kept up on following them for the time being. She couldn’t help but wonder what it was that they were going to do with all of those frozen treats, though then again maybe she would find out a lot sooner than she had originally thought in the first place.

 

She had no idea how long she had followed the two demons, though she had found them back in the heart of the city, in fact it was only a few blocks away from the police station. Puzzled, Hinata carefully parked her car and stood near the bushes, staying out of sight yet at the same time, making sure that she was watching the whole thing.

 

“Okay Kurama, get everything set up and we can hurry up. I have an appointment in two hours.” Naruto said with a growl before going into the back of the van and started to pull out… speakers? Was that a guitar? Now that she remembered it, she did recall him having a guitar case with him on the train.

 

Kurama pulled out what looked like a mic stand and something that would power it up. Maybe some kind of portable generator.  What where they going to do with all of that in the first place?

 

Taking a deep breath, Naruto walked out of his van and pulled out a guitar with him. From what she could make out, it was black with orange swirls that in a way resembled tails. Why were there only nine of those tail swirls when she had only seen him with was it one tail? Before she knew what was going on, the young woman saw Naruto tapping the microphone before he started to play at the strings of his guitar. As for Kurama, he started to walk around handing out the frozen treats… and getting cash as he did so.

 

 _I messed up tonight, I lost another fight_  
I still mess up but I'll just start again  
I keep falling down, I keep on hitting the ground  
I always get up now to see what's next

 

Naruto was just plucking away at the strings, singing to the lyrics that she thought sounded familiar to her. What was this song? It had to be something that she had heard many times before, for even she could even sing along to the lyrics, though she had to have the song itself playing in order for her to do it. Naruto, well he was just playing as if he had always known the song itself.

 

_Birds don't just fly, they fall down and get up  
Nobody learns without getting it wrong_

 

His eyes were closed from where he stood, as if he was picturing the lyrics within his mind. Going through his memories as he played the song. There was no falter in his performance at all. Had he practiced this song so many times before that he could do it in his sleep?

 

 _I won't give up, no I won't give in_  
'Til I reach the end and then I'll start again  
No I won't leave, I wanna try everything  
I wanna try even though I could fail  
I won't give up, no I won't give in  
'Til I reach the end and then I'll start again  
No, I won't leave, I wanna try everything  
I wanna try even though I could fail

 

Spinning on his heels, Naruto had a serious yet happy expression on his face as he sang. She couldn’t help but be entranced by the song. He was a really good singer, she had to give him that though. Tearing her gaze away from the fox, she saw that Kurama was selling the frozen treats to all of the people who came to watch him perform. So, that was what they did. Naruto would perform and Kurama would go out to sell the treats. Taking another look at the blonde, she saw that he even had a guitar case down in front of him as he performed and it was filling with cash and fast.

 

 _Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh_  
Try everything  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Try everything  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Try everything  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

 

Wait, now she remembered this song! It was ‘Try Everything’. She couldn’t remember the singer at the moment but she knew that this wasn’t his song! In fact, she was sure that this counted as copy right! Narrowing her eyes, she knew that she had another strike on the man now, there was no way that he could get away from her clutches with the things that she had on him now. Yet, when he mentioned that he had an appointment, it had her curious as to what it was.

 

 _Look how far you've come, you filled your heart with love_  
Baby you've done enough, take a deep breath  
Don't beat yourself up, don't need to run so fast  
Sometimes we come last, but we did our best

 

Naruto’s expression softened as he sang. It seemed as if he also reflected the song itself as it played throughout the street. Hinata saw the happy expressions on people’s faces and it made her want to smile herself. But, this man was still breaking the law here and she had to put an end to it as soon as she could get him alone.

 

 _I won't give up, no I won't give in_  
'Til I reach the end and then I'll start again  
No I won't leave, I wanna try everything  
I wanna try even though I could fail  
I won't give up, no I won't give in  
'Til I reach the end and then I'll start again  
No I won't leave, I wanna try everything  
I wanna try even though I could fail

 

Naruto seemed to be filled with energy as he struck at the strings. In fact, he was giving out some kind of energy, though not a harmful one. It was as if it energized people, though it also seemed as if he himself wasn’t aware of it though. Was he aware or was it something else? It was rather puzzling, but knew that she would have to ask him that as well later.

 

 _I'll keep on making those new mistakes_  
I'll keep on making them every day  
Those new mistakes

 

His expression softened, as if he was reflecting on his own mistakes at this point. What was going through his mind right now?  It had her rather curious, yet at the same time, she knew that she had to put her personal feelings aside for this. After all, he was if she was guessing this right a con man since he was conning people out of their money in some way.

 

 _Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh_  
Try everything  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Try everything  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh  
Try everything  
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh

_Try everything_

 

With that, the song had ended at long last, Hinata couldn’t help but watch the rest of the concert. Naruto played a few more songs before telling everyone that he had to pack it up and head on out. Narrowing her eyes, she made her way back to the car before following the fox demon. Well, at least after he had packed up everything and started to give Kurama a share of what was made.

 

The two foxes spoke among themselves for a moment before separating. It seemed that Naruto was going to this appointment on foot instead of getting a ride from the other fox.

 

* * *

 

 

After following him for… well she had no idea how long it was but she had followed him to a… children’s hospital? That was rather odd, was there someone here that was related to him that he had to visit? That was rather puzzling, though she wouldn’t know what it was unless she went inside.

 

Locking up her so called ‘car’ and made her way inside. Since it was a children’s hospital, no one suspected anything, though a few people had stopped to stare at her. Most likely wondering why a cop or ‘meter maid’ was here in the first place. Unless they thought that she was also here to visit. Looking around the halls, she had noticed that she had lost the fox demon whom she had been following the whole day. Narrowing her eyes, she unleashed her sacred energy to locate Naruto.

 

Though, as she did she had noticed a few people looking around, wondering where the power was coming from. Yet, they had no idea where it came from for the time being. For that, she was thankful, it would have been rather bad if someone had reported that a priestess was a cop.

 

Soon, she had found out where the man was and… he was in a room with children, both human and demon. “What is he doing?” asked Hinata, not expecting any kind of answer before making her way toward the room. As she walked, she looked around the room, trying to see if there was any kind of indication as to why he would be here, yet everyone that had walked by just minded their own business yet, seemed a little at odds from the sudden burst and disappearing sacred energy.

 

To be honest, she didn’t like her power much though it did come in handy for when the time would arrive.

 

“Okay kids.” Came a voice, causing Hinata to rush to the door and bam, there he was. He had a guitar in his hands and he was standing next to a small speaker. Small enough to at least allow the children to hear but not to disturb the others in the hospital. “I’m sorry that I’m a little late, but I got a little caught up at work.” Naruto said with a big smile on his face. What was he planning? “Though I did come up with a song or at least found one that I think you would find entertaining.” Song?

 

Soon, he started to play his guitar, a song started to play and even she knew this one. It was one that she had heard when she herself was a child. Yet, a little difference in tempo.

 

 _I'm gonna be the mighty king so enemies beware_  
Well I've never seen a king of beast with quite so little hair  
I'm gonna be the main event that no king was before  
I'm brushing up I'm looking down  
I'm working on my roar  
Thus far, a rather uninspiring thing  
Oh I just can't wait to be king

 

He had his one foot on the speaker as he started to strum at the strings, a big smile on his face as he played the guitar. Was that something he really did enjoy and not just to con people out of their money? Soon, he jumped from the speaker and started to twirl, his tail swaying as he did so. Just really moving along to the beat of the song as he played to the kids.

 

 _No one saying do this_  
No one saying be there  
No one saying stop that  
No one saying see here  
Now see here!

 

Turning her gaze to the children, Hinata saw that they were having the time of their life. They clapped and even moving their hands to the beat as they listened. Shaking his head as he sang those lines, he couldn’t help but keep a calm smile on his face. It almost seemed as if the children’s happiness now was making him happy in the long run.

 

_Free to run around all day  
Free to do it all my way_

 

Now he seemed to pretend to be running, as if he was trying to run from something that was far bigger than himself. Why though? Why go through so much trouble to act out the song? He was a con man that was… trying to make children happy but, wasn’t he a bad guy? Bad guys don’t make others happy but themselves.

 

 _Well I think it's time that you and I arranged a heart to heart_  
Kings don't need advice from little hornbills for a start  
If this is where the monarchy is headed, count me out!  
Out of service, out of Africa  
I wouldn't hang about  
This child is getting wildly out of wing  
Oh I just can't wait to be king

 

Tapping his hand against his chest, right over his heart Naruto almost seemed to let go of his guitar yet thanks to the strap it had remained in its place. Shaking his head, he started to bounce on his feet, gaining a bit of laughter from the children at his silly antics.

 

 _Everybody look left_  
Everybody look right  
Everywhere you look I'm  
Standing in the spotlight

 

Looking left, than looking right and turning his gaze back to the children, Naruto held his guitar back in his hands as he strum at the strings and slid on his knees a bit as he played away at the guitar.

  
 _Let every creature go for broke and sing_  
Let's hear it in the herd and on the wing  
It's gonna be king Simba's finest fling

 

The children even seemed to bounce in their beds as they watched Naruto. Hinata couldn’t help but stare in shock and awe at this. Did he really care for children? Holding his left hand over his ear, as if he was trying to listen for something important only to chuckle and shrug his shoulders.

 

 _Oh I just can't wait to be king_  
Oh I just can't wait to be king  
Oh I just can't wait...  
To be king

 

Leaning himself back, Naruto played the last few notes of the song only to jump back up onto his feet after the final note was played. The children laughed and clapped as the man finished his song. It seemed that Naruto was a regular here from how the children ran to him and tackled him in a hug. The man laughed as he felt the children hugging him. Hinata frowned… was he, or wasn’t he a bad guy?

 

“Okay kids, I know I’ve been gone for a while but I promise I’ll try to come back once a week at least. I have work to get back too after being gone.” Naruto said with a laugh, really a joyful tone to his voice. Hinata found it rather hard to believe that he could sound this happy, and be so good with kids. Letting out a soft sigh, she made her way out of the hospital and waited. The only thing that she could do now was to confront him. This was her only chance of that now.

 

Though thankfully, she didn’t have to wait long it seems. Naruto had started to walk out but his words were what shocked her. “I’m amazed that you didn’t just come in the kid’s room when you found me.” Wait how did he? “I could still smell you, scent is one thing that I can still do, though I don’t know how long you’ve been following me.”

 

He could still smell her? She was sure that the cold, and the scent of other people would have prevented that. Not to mention she was sure that she could have been hidden without any issue. “So, what do you want?” asked Naruto.

 

“You are under arrest.” Hinata said with a glare.

 

“Oh? Mind telling me what for?” He asked as he started to walk away. Hinata quickly following him as he was messing around with his guitar case.

 

“Well for one, feeding people without a permit, performing without a permit and not to mention copyright as you were playing songs that do not belong to you.” Hinata said as she counted off with her fingers.

 

Reaching into his pocket, Naruto pulled out some paper works as he said “As you can see here, I have a signed permit to feed commoners, perform on the streets-“

 

“Okay but the copyright you can’t get away with!”

 

“Ah, but if you look closer you’ll see a contract I have with music companies that allow me to play the songs that I have created for them to use. So long as it is a song that I created, I can still play it and earn my own keep.” Naruto said with a smug look on his face.

 

Hinata was fuming, how could this guy have pulled a fast one over her like this in the first place? It just didn’t make sense to her! There was no way that he could still get away with this, there had to be something that she could do at least! Though before she knew it, she saw him staring at her eyes than his gaze fell onto her badge that had her name. “Hyuuga hm? Related to Lord Hiashi?” asked Naruto.

 

“Not that it is any of your business but I’m his daughter.” Hinata said with a glare.

 

“Sure Princess, anyway I have to head on home.” Naruto said as he started to walk away.

 

“Do not call me princess, I gave up my title to my sister.” Hinata said with a glare as she followed him. “I should still arrest you for being a con man.”

 

“True, but you also have yet to find me breaking any laws.” Naruto said with a chuckle. Turning to stare at her for a moment, he calmly said “So, first human officer in decades I see. To be honest didn’t think there were any humans with guts left. Though, I didn’t think a princess from the old lands would come all the way here to Utopia.”

 

“I am not from the old lands I’m from the Sacred Lands.” Hinata said with a glare.

 

“Whatever, same thing. So, let me get this straight about you.” Naruto said softly, causing Hinata to frown a bit. There was no way that he could know anything else about her. “You’re a human officer, and as a little girl you had wanted to be one since then and thought that you could get yourself in the academy with top marks, than get yourself transferred to Utopia where all demons get along and sing many songs of joy!” Hinata blinked at that, okay she had thought that as a child but she wanted to make a difference. “But, oops, only to see that we all don’t get along at all! We all hate each other and it is nothing but a happy story of make believe!” Naruto turned to her, his gaze cold but a hidden emotion held within the depths. “So maybe you should just go back home and… Sacred Lands right? Go back to being a princess or some kind of shrine maiden because I’m sure that’s all you know how to do.” With that, he disappeared from Hinata’s sight.

 

Hinata could only stand there, not sure what she could do or say.

 

* * *

 

**Note: songs are from Zootopia and Lion King, but I liked the versions that Natewantstobattle used on youtube, check him out he's really good.**


	7. Small Doubt

Hinata made her way home with a frown on her face. Okay, a frown of defeat. What Naruto had said to her had struck a chord in her heart. But what could she do? None of her fellow cops liked her, nor would they do anything to stick up for her. Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman unlocked the door of her apartment and made her way inside before locking up behind her. What could she do in the first place? It wasn’t like she could just return home after just her first day on the job.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman rubbed her cheek, even though Naruto hadn’t hurt her physically, he had hurt her emotionally. What was his problem anyway? What did she ever do to him- okay she followed him around after he cheated her out of her last twenty but still!

 

Shaking her head, the young woman made her way to her bedroom to change, or shew as about too until she had received a phone call. Groaning a little, the young woman looked at her phone and saw that it was her parents calling to check up on her. Fantastic.

 

Answering her phone, Hinata cooling her features beforehand, had a bright smile on her face as she smiled at the smiling faces of her parents. Honestly, this was the last thing that she wanted to tend too. Her day, her first day on the job was nothing but disappointment right now and to see her parents smiling faces only made things all the worse for her.

 

“Hinata! How are you?” came her mother’s voice, causing Hinata to smile a bit at that.

 

“How was your first day?” came her father’s question.

 

Oh boy, how was she to explain this to them in the first place? Taking a deep breath, Hinata gave her parents her biggest fakest smile that she could muster, not sure how she was to tell them something like this but at the moment she knew that she had to be careful. “Oh it was great. I’m doing so much to help those out need.” Hinata said with a bright smile on her face.

 

“That’s good.” Hinata’s mother said with a smile. “You know, Sakura and Ino were thinking of coming down to visit. They haven’t seen you for a long while before you had left for Utopia so I hope you don’t mind them coming down.” To be honest, she wouldn’t mind some friends right now. She needed to talk to them about everything, her parents though she didn’t think she could tell them anything about this, thinking that she would have disappointed them about everything.

 

“Wait… Hinata?” Hinata’s father, Hiashi broke out as he caused Hinata to stare at him with confusion on her face. “Why are you wearing a meter maid vest?” Hinata looked down only to gasp and tried to explain, or at least tried to say something, anything to explain the situation. “I guess that is the safest place on the force. You won’t get hurt.” Darn it! “I approve.”

 

“Dad, please. This is only a small set back. It’ll take me time to get out of this situation. Soon, I’ll be doing huge cases that will make the demons wish they could have solved it with their strength.” Hinata claimed, hoping, hoping with all her heart that her words would be true. “Don’t count me out yet dad. I still plan to be an amazing cop.” Hinata declared.

 

Hiashi looked like he wanted to argue with his daughter, even her mother was looking at her husband. Hinata didn’t know what it was that Hiashi was going to say, but it was to the point that the young woman felt herself starting to tremble. “Alright. I’ll place my faith in you my daughter. Just… be careful okay?” He finally said, causing Hinata to smile a little more. That made her heart a little lighter from all of the pain and torment that she had felt moments ago, yet it wasn’t enough to completely clear itself up.

 

“So, when are the girls coming down?” asked Hinata with a frown on her face.

 

“They’ll be there tomorrow. Just send them a message on when you can meet them.” Hana said with a smile on her face. Well, Hinata was thankful for that at least. She knew her mother would be a little timelier with all of this to make sure that Hinata at least knew of what was going on. Though, she knew that she still had to make sure that she had some time off for a break tomorrow, if she was stuck as a meter maid again tomorrow than she would most likely need some kind of getaway, even if it was only for a moment of time.

 

“Well, we’ll leave you be. You must be tired after today daughter.” Hiashi said with a small smile on his face. “You will need your rest. You’ll never know, your big task may even be around the corner. You just need to take it when it presents itself to you.” Hinata smiled at that, her father was still on her side about this, even though he still didn’t like the idea of her being a cop, he still had faith in her.

 

“Thanks dad.” Hinata said with a big smile on her face. It made her feel good about herself, to hear that she had some kind of chance. And, he was right. Hinata knew that she would just have to take that chance when it presented itself to her. Though, as for what it was, and when it would appear, she would have to be careful at the same time to make sure that she wouldn’t have bitten off more than she could chew.

 

Taking a deep breath, Hinata said her goodbye to her parents before hanging up the call and made her way to her bedroom. May as well get ready to go to bed, oh… she forgot to ask her father for some cash. Damn. She’ll have to ask tomorrow for a transfer… Oh well, right now she’ll need to rest.

 

* * *

 

 

Had her second day on the job gotten better? No, far from it. It seemed that Chief Kakashi, was determined to make sure that she stayed as a Meter Maid for as long as possible until she finally couldn’t take it anymore and quit. No matter if she had just as amazing training as the other cops. The only difference was that she was human, not just a human but a priestess.

 

Sure, they don’t know that but still she was more than just a human.

 

Though, now that she thought about it when she had voiced her desire to go out on the field he had this weird look on his face. Okay, more so in his lone eye that wasn’t hidden but, she could still see something. Had it been fear or some kind of ghost of concern? There were too many things that would swirl in her mind that would make her wonder why Kakashi was so against her being on the field.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman looked up at the time, she had already been on the street for a couple hours. And of course, many people weren’t happy with her. Many people telling her that she was ruining their day, one wished that she was dead just because she had written up the ticket.

 

Looking away, she couldn’t help but look up at the sky, wondering what she could do. Honestly, she almost wanted to give up, just wanted to do something amazing with her life but no matter what happened, no matter what she did it just seemed to back fire for her and it was only her second day. Right now, she wished that it was her break already so she could go and spend some time with her friends.

 

Sakura and Ino were already in the city, hanging around a café as they waited for her to come around. She still had an hour before she could even go on her break from the street. Though since no one else was even close to getting a ticket, maybe Kakashi would allow it? _’Yeah right, this is a man that wants you fired.’_  thought Hinata with a frown.

 

Shaking her head, the young woman made her way back to her cart or whatever you wanna call it at this point and slid in on the seat. Her hands holding the steering wheel, just… staring at it blankly. What was she even doing with this in the first place? Okay sure, it was her first day here but… everyone at the station, minus Chouji, hated her. They ignored her, pretended that she wasn’t even there in the first place. It made her feel so out of place, more so than when she lived in the Sacred Lands with her family and friends.

 

Rubbing her cheek, she couldn’t help but feel the faint traces of her scar as she remembered when she received it. She only got it because she fought back against Konohamaru because he was being a jerk to her friends and this was her reward in the end of it all.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman placed her hand on the steering wheel, not sure what more she could do or say. So many things swam in her mind and it made her want to back out of her promise with her father but knew, that if she did that she would only fail herself. Could she really do that? To prove them all right that she wasn’t fit to be a cop in the first place? There had to be something, anything that she could do to prove them wrong. What that was, she had no idea, but knew that she had to do something at the very least!

 

Taking a deep breath, Hinata lifted her had to look at the clock and saw that it was almost time for her break, so that was a plus at least. Thank god, maybe wallowing in her own self-pity was enough to help pass the time at long last.

 

Starting up the engine, she started to make her way over to the café, not sure if they had anything huge to eat though it wasn’t like she had the money to really get much of anything at the very least. Maybe some tea, since she had forgotten to ask her father for money. Taking a deep breath, the young woman hoped and prayed that she could calm down her nerves, not wanting to cause her friends any kind of distress about what she had gone through, though this was assuming that they couldn’t read her as well as they did when they were children.

 

Thankfully, the café wasn’t far from where she was. Smiling to herself, she made her way into the shop and looked around, only for her gaze to fall on two women. Sakura, her hair was short, just reaching her shoulders. She wore a simple pink sun dress and white flats. Ino, her hair was much longer now than it was when she was a child. Reaching to her knees without it being held back. She wore a purple top with a black jean skirt and white heels.

 

It was amazing just how much she missed these two. They have been her best friends, out of everyone in the whole village, these two besides her parents, believed in her dream of being a cop and she couldn’t be any happier to have these two as her best friends in the whole world.

 

“Ino, Sakura!” Hinata called with a big smile on her face. Both women turned their heads at the calls of their names before smiling and waved Hinata over.

 

Rushing over, Hinata hugged both women before taking a seat herself. “Hinata,” said Sakura with a big smile on her face. “It’s amazing just how great you look in your uniform but, why the vest?”

 

Ino frowned a little at the idea as she asked “Are you that Meter Maid that we’ve been hearing about?” Hinata sighed softly, she had a feeling that this was going to come up. Honestly, she didn’t want to talk about it but, knowing these two they wouldn’t stop until she let it out or keeping it bottled up would drive her mad.

 

So, she told them everything from her first day until now.

 

“Wait, you were conned out of your last twenty for someone who pretended to…” Sakura began, trying to make sense of it all but it seemed that she couldn’t even continue anything.

 

“And he had the nerve to say all of that to you afterwards?” Ino said in shocked awe.

 

Hinata could only sigh as she leaned back in her seat. It seemed that no matter what she said, or at least in this case it would only backfire on her in some way. “Though, I guess you did kind of pissed him off for following him around. Even though he is a con man he was still just on the line between obeying the law, and breaking it.” Sakura said with a frown. Okay, they had a point there, she had followed him the whole day but still, she had to find some way to get back at him for tricking her in the first place.

 

“Hinata, you may not be able to get him back for what he did, but you are the better person.” Ino said with a smile on her face, hoping that she would be able to cheer up her friend. Hinata just gave her friends a small smile as she let out a soft sigh. Honestly, the young woman knew that her friends wanted to cheer her up, though she couldn’t help but wonder if there was more that they could talk about. Yet, at the same time she didn’t want to talk about ‘Naruto Uzumaki’.

 

“So, was this guy handsome?” asked Ino, causing Hinata and Sakura to glare. “What? I can’t be curious?” Turning back to Hinata, Ino had stars in her eyes as she asked once more “Is he handsome?”

 

“He is. For a Fox Demon.” Hinata mumbled as she leaned back in her seat.

 

“Fox Demon?!” Ino and Sakura both exclaimed.

 

“Yeah, what?” Hinata blinked in confusion.

 

Both girls looked at the other before turning to look at Hinata once more. It seemed as if they couldn’t understand what it was that was wrong with her, but knew that they had to point this out. “Hinata, we thought Fox Demon’s still bothered you after what Konohamaru did.”

 

“No, they don’t.” Hinata said as she rubbed her cheek.

 

“You’re rubbing your cheek now Hinata.”

 

“Right. Sorry.” Hinata pulled her hand away, not sure why it still bothered her about this kind of thing, though she knew that she couldn’t allow it to rule her life anymore. But, there was still that part of her that bothered her even though she tried to ignore it with all of her mental strength. “I don’t know okay. Sure, Fox Demons are normally tricksters but there is something off about him. His aura is powerful for only one tail and he seems different when he plays for children.”

 

“Maybe he just likes kids?” Ino said with a smile, only to add “Think about it, a man that loves children. He’d be perfect for a husband.”

 

“Ino!” Shouted both Hinata and Sakura. Ino just smiled as she leaned back in her seat, her grin still on her face. Honestly, Hinata and Sakura had no idea how they could put up with Ino and her crazy boy obsession but for now there really wasn’t much that they could do about that right now was there.

 

“Look, Ino there isn’t much I can say about the guy. I’ve only met him once, well twice if you count the train. Otherwise, I’ve only spoken to the guy the one day and didn’t learn much about him other than him being a jerk.” Hinata said with a groan before letting out a sigh and leaned back in her seat once again. There was no way that she would be able to handle this. The entire day just seemed rather odd if you asked her, and it made her want to hit something, more specifically the fox demon that had swindled her out of her last twenty.

 

But, until there was a for sure way of her knowing that he did indeed break the law, there was nothing that she could do.

 

“Help! Someone! I need a cop!” shouted someone from across the street. Hinata, Ino and Sakura looked over and saw that someone had ran out of the flower shop across the street and a man wearing an apron. Hinata assumed that he was the owner of the shop. Soon, the owner turned and looked into the shop, causing him to run over to the girls. “Quick! Cop!” Hinata blinked as he ran toward them, looking around she saw that she was the only officer in the café.

 

“Please help me! I was just robbed! You’re a cop right?!”

 

“Yes! Sorry girls I’ll be back, we’ll have to pick a different day!” With that, Hinata shot up from her seat and ran out to follow the man that ran out from the shop. At least she had a chance to prove herself now! There was no way that this would end in any way other than being able to prove how capable she was.

 

Running as fast as her legs could carry her, she saw ahead of her, a man carrying a duffle bag. Most likely holding onto what it was that he had stolen. But, what could it be? What had he stolen from a flower shop in the first place? Money most likely.

 

The man had long white hair pulled back in a small ponytail, he had on a purple shirt and white shorts. Most likely to give him freedom to run like this. Though Hinata was still faster, she just had to make sure that she could keep up with him. There was no way that she would allow herself to be caught off guard like this. Though damn, she had to admit that he was fast, it almost made her wonder if he was some kind of demon but at the same time, she didn’t sense any kind of demonic aura from the man.

 

Soon, she saw other cops having started to gather around. Most likely someone else had also called the cops to capture the man. She could faintly hear them making a report that they have the purp in sights but nope, this guy was all hers. “I got this one guys!” Hinata called out as she jumped over the cat, sliding over the hood and making a mad dash. She ignored the guy telling her to wait for the ‘real’ cops and just kept on running.

 

The man was running this way and that, trying to avoid capture. Well, that or he was just insane to begin with in the first place. He made a sharp turn, causing Hinata to almost smack into the wall, though she had braced herself with her hands to help stop the collision. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata knew that she had to do something to help slow the man down, though she couldn’t be sure as to what it could be right now.

 

It seemed that he was going toward the shopping part of the city. There would be so many people there, shopping for many things such as clothes, nicknats among other things. With all those people there, it would be a little more difficult to keep up with him but there was no way that she would lose him either.

 

Narrowing her eyes, Hinata pushed herself to run faster, reaching for her pouch that held special sutras that she had prepared before bed last night but wasn’t sure if it’d work on him since he is just a human. Even with what little amount of spiritual power that she did possess, it could hurt a demon yes, even to near death but not enough to kill them. To a human, it wouldn’t hurt them since they lacked demonic aura.

 

Soon, Hinata found herself in the center of the shopping district of the city. Narrowing her eyes, she didn’t think she’d lose him so easily but hearing a few screams of anger, Hinata felt like she had her man. Following the sounds, the young woman ran toward it, and right then and there, she saw it. He was trying to get over to the fence so he could climb over it to get away. No, there was no way that she would allow him to escape.

 

Running even faster than she thought she could ever muster, Hinata charged toward the man. “Stop, in the name of the law!” shouted the blue haired woman.

 

The man turned and glared at her. “I don’t think so copper!” shouted the man, hoping to get away from this. Hinata knew that she would have to distract him somehow. There had to be something that she could do to get him to lose the bag. Though before she could even see things coming, he pulled out what looked like some kind of fancy glowing knife. A knife that was imbued with sacred energy. But how could he get something like that?

 

Soon, the man threw it toward Hinata, getting it stuck in her arm causing her to cry out. He smirked at her, hoping the pain would have slowed her down. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata ripped the knife from her arm, crying out as she did, before charging her own aura into the blade. Sure, she knew that her aura couldn’t hurt a human, but it could at least stun them for a moment.

 

Throwing the knife, Hinata watched as it soar into the air and slipped through the strap of the duffle bag, causing Hinata to smile at that. Though she had also seen that the blade itself, had sliced the man’s side, not enough to cause him some serious damage, but enough to stun him. Just as she was about to rush toward him, it seemed that him being stunned had worn off a lot quicker than she had thought.

 

Was her aura that weak? No, it couldn’t be. It was at least strong enough to make a man freeze for a few minutes at the very least. “Take this copper!” Shouted the man as he threw more blades, all of them fused with sacred aura, and they were aiming toward a young woman coming out of what appeared to be a bridal shop. Oh no!

 

Hinata acted quickly and ran toward the girl, though even she knew that she couldn’t out run weapons like this. No matter how fast she was, she just wasn’t quick enough to stop sacred weapons once they were set for a target. What made it worse, was that this target was a Cat Demon!

 

Acting quickly, she grabbed a hold of some sutras that she had in store for such an occasion as this. She mumbled a chant under her breath before throwing them. The paper talisman flew toward the woman, creating a barrier. Though, the woman had screamed and coward into a ball as if to shield herself. Even demons feared sacred weapons, why wouldn’t they? IF they were hit by those things it could kill them.

 

A soft ‘ting’ was heard as the knives just seemed to bounce off of her barrier before they fluttered to the ground. Hinata made her way to the woman and mumbled a chant once more, holding up her hand with her index and middle fingers held up as she released the barrier. “Hey, you okay?” asked Hinata.

 

The woman, had long beautiful black hair and green eyes that would make anyone think of jade. She wore a simple black dress, and held onto many bags as she had left the store, made her wonder if she was going to a wedding. Anyway. “You okay? Oh, I love your hair by the way.”

 

“Thank you but… how did you do that?” Asked the woman, causing Hinata to freeze a little. There was no way that she could tell her that she was a priestess. Shaking her head, Hinata just told her that it was a secret before bowing to her only to narrow her eyes. There was no way that she would allow that man to get away. He almost killed a demon just so he could get away. Something like that was unforgiveable!

 

Pulling out more of her sutras, she mumbled the spell once more before throwing them as she mumbled another chant.

 

Meanwhile, the man picked up his bag as he said “Man that was close. And to think I was close to getting caught.” Suddenly, he felt something hit his arm, causing him to frown as he said “What the?” He saw a sutra, but that wasn’t the only thing that he noticed, his arm wouldn’t move. Soon, more of them started to hit his body, more feeling started to fade away from his body. He looked up and saw that the cop had thrown more sutras, this time, it seemed that it would rob him of movement. “No!” He shouted before a sutra slapped over his eyes, robbing him of his sight.


	8. 48 Hours

It had taken her a while to return to the police station, though Hinata was thankful that the man stayed asleep. She had no idea who he was though, there was something odd about him. Yet, she knew that she had done the right thing in chasing down that man. Now, here she was, carrying him into the station over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Hm, it was odd with how light he was to be honest.

 

“I caught the snake!” shouted Hinata with a grin on her face. She carefully set the tied up man on the floor as she placed her hands on her hips. A proud smile on her face as she felt like she finally did the right thing in her life. In fact, it felt like this had been the big break that she had been waiting for the whole time! Maybe now Chief Kakashi will let her be a real cop at long last!

 

“Hyuuga!” shouted the man in question. Maybe he was going to allow her to go on the missing demon case at long last!

 

Leaving the man with the other officers, Hinata quickly made her way to the chief’s office. Hinata was giddy with excitement, wondering what it was that he would say to her. Maybe he’d say that she did such a fine job and allow her to go on the case at long last. Or at least something exciting at long last. Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door. All she could hear was “Come in Hyuuga.”

 

Hinata slowly opened the door before taking her seat in front of the desk. Kakashi’s chair was facing her. What was he doing? Though in the silence of the room, she could faintly make out the sound of pages being flipped. It made her wonder what it was that he was looking over.

 

“Removing yourself from your post. Putting others in danger while chasing a perp, and of course not finishing your shift.” Kakashi growled out before turning around in his chair. Looking at her with a hard and cold stare. “I am very disappointed in you Hyuuga. I thought a human would listen to her orders.”

 

“But sir, I was just doing my job.” Hinata tried to explain.

 

“Your job is to hand out tickets on parked cars!” Shouted Kakashi.

 

“I caught the bad guy, I don’t want to keep handing out tickets. Sir, I want to be a real cop.” Hinata said with a frown on her face.

 

“No, you are NOT to disobey me again Hyuuga. You will do as you are told.” Kakashi snarled.

 

“Sir, I don’t want to just hand out tickets for my whole career.” Hinata argued back softly.

 

“No one asked me what I wanted Hyuuga, because I sure as hell didn’t want a human on my team.” Growled the man before Hinata, making her want to shrink back in her seat. “Now, I want you to promise that no matter what happens outside while handing tickets, that you won’t do _anything_  other than handing out the tickets you are to give.”

 

“I-“

 

“Chief Kakashi?” Came Choji’s voice over the intercom on Kakashi’s desk. “Mrs. Sarutobi is here again. She wants to speak to you-“

 

“Not now Choji.” Came Kakashi’s quick reply.

 

“But-“

 

 _"Not now!”_  Shouted Kakashi.

 

Hinata winced with how Kakashi spoke to Choji. He was only trying to do his job, though it seemed that she had already pushed Kakashi toward the edge already. He was only taking out his frustration on someone else who didn’t really deserve it in the first place. “Now, I want to hear you promise me Hyuuga, I will not allow you to keep doing this because next time you do anything like that again and I’ll have to-“

 

“Chief Kakashi, please may I have some of your time.” Came a new voice, causing Hinata and Kakashi to turn and stare at the woman who walked in.

 

Standing there, was a tall beautiful woman. She had long shaggy black hair that pink sakura blossoms that almost seemed to have been braided within the locks of her hair. She wore a simple red shirt that had what looked like a white bandage-like dress wrapping around her body just ending above her knees. Yet, Hinata also noticed that she had branches wrapped around her legs and arms, and they were also decorated in the same blossoms as her hair.

 

Her red eyes looked at Kakashi with tears in her eyes as she slowly walked over toward the chief, only to stop short a handful of steps. “Please Chief Kakashi, please find my Asuma.” She pulled out a photo from her pocket, showing it to Kakashi, as well as Hinata.

 

Hinata couldn’t help but gaze at the picture. It had a normal happy family, the woman was in it, along with a tall man with tanned skin, black hair and beard. He had pointed ears, a long thin tail that resembled a monkey. _’Monkey Demon, and a Sakura Blossom Demon… interesting marriage, but there is so much love there.’_  Hinata thought to herself. Yet, her gaze went to the child in the middle of the two. Both parents, having a hand on their child’s shoulder, a little girl.

 

The girl looks like her father, yet had her mother’s shaggy hair and red eyes. There were some blossoms in her hair though not as much as her mother. No branches on her arms or legs like what the woman had. But, the girl had a tail that was wrapped around her leg. Unlike her father’s tail, which was wrapped around his entire family.

 

They were truly a happy family.

 

“He’s been gone for ten days. Please, someone has to have seen my husband… please.” The woman was begging, pleading at this point as more tears started to build up and spill over. Hinata felt her heart reach out for this woman, if it was someone she loved this dearly that had just gone missing, well she would be in quiet a mess as well. And that itself would only break her heart all the more.

 

“I’m sorry Kurenai. We’re doing all we can to find him and the others that have gone missing but so far we don’t have any leads.” Said Kakashi with a frown on his face. “I’m doing all I can to find him for you, but I only have so many trusted officers to look for him.”

 

“Kakashi please, there has to be something more you can do?” Kurenai begged.

 

“There-“

 

“I’ll look for him.” Hinata blurted out, causing both demon’s to look at her in shock. Hinata stood up from her chair as she stared at the woman with a smile on her face. “I’ll find Mr. Sarutobi.”

 

“Oh thank you!” shouted Kurenai as she rushed and hugged Hinata, the blue haired woman had been a little surprised at first but smiled and hugged her back. This may be her chance, her only chance for her to prove that she was a true cop. Kurenai wiped her eyes of her tears before pulling back and handed Hinata the photo. “Please find my Asuma. Mirai and I miss him so much.” All Hinata could do is nod as she let out a smile and watched as Kurenai walked out of the room, Kakashi following her out as he closed the door.

 

“You’re fired.”

 

“What?!” Hinata shouted as she put the picture in her pocket. “Why?!”

 

“Insubordination!” Growled Kakashi as he narrowed his eye at the woman before him. Hinata wanted to shrink back but kept her standing upright.

 

“Sir, I am a cop, her husband is missing and needs to be found.” Hinata said back to him. Trying to prove her point while pointing out the door. “Look at how distraught she is! She is heartbroken without her husband.”

 

“Don’t tell me what my friend feels. I know what she is feeling, it is something all demons feel! You don’t know anything about how a demon is without their mate. They are nothing without their mates to the point that if their mate is missing they are just shells of their former selves until they are reunited, or if their mate is dead, then the one left behind will join them in death.” Of course Hinata knew that, it was one of the things that she had learned growing up. Though, there was no way that she would tell him that she was a priestess. “I won’t allow my friend to suffer any more heart break because a human girl thought that she could find someone that even my top best cops couldn’t?!”

 

Okay, he may have a point there but she had to do something. Taking a deep breath, the young woman calmly said “Someone had to help her. Someone had to do something in order to help her get her husband back.”

 

“No, you gave her false hope which is crueler. Now, you will go out there and tell Kurenai that you are going to drop this case because you are over your head and are no longer a cop.” Kakashi said as he reached out to grab the door. His glare never leaving Hinata for a moment as if to tell her that she would never be a cop, that she could never be anything other than a weak human woman. Soon, he opened the door and was about to tell his friend that Hinata would talk to her until someone unexpected was in view.

 

“I heard that Officer Hyuuga has taken the case!” Shouted Assistant Mayor Obito Uchiha with a big smile on his face. Kurenai was smiling as well, her eyes still a little teary though not as much as before. Kakashi looked pale for a moment only to regain his composure.

 

“Assistant Obito, what brings you by?” asked Kakashi, his smile was nervous, at least from how he sounded anyway she guessed he had a nervous smile. It was hard to tell with that damn mask of his.

 

“I was coming by to check on our human officer for the mayor to make sure that she was doing a good job when I bumped into Mrs. Sarutobi.” Obito said with a big smile on his face. “The mayor is going to be excited to hear about this!” He had pulled out his phone and started to text.

 

“Now you don’t have to tell him anything.” Kakashi, hoping that he would have been able to stop Obito’s text.

 

“Too late, already sent and it’s all good to go.” Obito said with a smile on his face before making his way to Hinata. “Hinata, I want you know that if you ever need any kind of help, you have a friend at City Hall. We humans need to stick together.” He held onto her hands as he said that, a big smile on his face.

 

“Like glue.” Hinata said with a small smile, though pulled her hands away from Obito. Sure, he was a nice guy and all but she didn’t want him holding her hands like that anyway. “Thank you Obito.” Hinata said with a smile still remaining on her face. He chuckled and started to walk out of the building with Kurenai, talking to her about how if anyone could find her husband, it would be Hinata.

 

Though before she could think more about it, Kakashi pulled Hinata back into the office and closed the door behind him. “I’ll give you forty-eight hours to solve the case.” Kakashi began, staring at Hinata with a hard stare. “Two days, to find what happened to Asuma Sarutobi. If you don’t, then you will turn in your badge, and leave this city. Am I clear?”

 

“Crystal sir.” Hinata said with a soft sigh, this may be her only chance to be a true cop and be seen in the eyes of the others as a capable cop. It may be difficult, but at the end if she solved this case, and she will solve it, then she will be a true cop at long last.

 

* * *

 

 

“Here you go, one Missing Monkey Demon.” Choji said with a small smile. Hinata accepted the red folder as she opened it. The only thing that she saw was a picture of the missing man, and of course some notes. There were no leads, no witnesses, nothing. It was the shortest case file that she had ever seen before in her entire life and that was saying something. Looking up at Choji, and saw that he was just as confused as she was. It seemed that even he hadn’t expected this file to be so small.

 

“Choji, are you sure this is it?” asked Hinata.

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry, and well… I do hate to mention this too but since you aren’t in the system yet you also don’t have any kind of resources.” Hinata wanted to curse at that. Of all the things that she had to deal with it had to be this?! “I hope you didn’t bet your whole career on this.”

 

“I… I uh… I did.” Hinata mumbled with a faint blush on her face. She couldn’t help but hear Choji slap his forehead.

 

“I think you may have bitten off more than you could chew at this one Hinata.” He commented.

 

“Yes I know. I’m stupid.” Hinata mumbled in agreement before looking over the picture of the last location that Asuma was at. It seemed like a normal city corner. There had to be something that was out of place, something that would lead her to any kind of witness that could tell her where he could have gone too.

 

Tilting her head, she saw that Asuma was holding some bags in his one hand. A sign that he had gone shopping, though she wasn’t sure where he could have gone before this picture was taken. It was still puzzling, and it was starting to bother her to new heights. “Do you have any idea where he may have gone Choji?” asked Hinata with a frown on her face.

 

“Not really, sorry Hinata.” He said with a soft sigh, the sound of chips being munched on reached her ears causing her to turn to stare at him with a frown. “Sorry, I’m hungry.” Choji said with a small chuckle before he went back to eating his chips. Shaking her head with a small smile, she went back to looking at the picture. To be honest, she couldn’t really be mad at Choji, he was the only friend she had here, so what was the point in getting mad at him for being hungry? It just didn’t make any kind of sense to her. Plus, it’d be rather rude of her to be so mean to him for something he had no control over.

 

“Hey, I wonder where I could get that popsicle.” Choji commented.

 

Huh? Hinata looked down at the picture and blinked at what she saw. Or at least noticed something in his hand. It would explain why Asuma’s tongue was sticking out like that and it gave her an idea. “Choji, can you hand me a magnifying glass?” Doing as requested, Choji handed the blue haired woman what she asked for and she started to get a better look at the picture.

 

Asuma was holding a popsicle alright. But not just any popsicle, it was one that was shaped like a paw. “I’ve seen those before.” Hinata whispered softly.

 

“Where?” Asked Choji with a frown on his face.

 

She knew that she had seen them, it was the only thing special about that popsicle and only one demon made them at all. Narrowing her eyes, she calmly said “It’s a demon that makes them. I kinda ran into him the other day.” Yet, if Asuma was missing for ten days, how was he there in the first place? She had seen him on the train with her, he was there and she had seen that but, how it was that he could have done that unless it was the other demon that was on her mind.

 

Looking through the picture a little more, she couldn’t help but tilt her head to the side as she kept searching. There had to be some kind of indication of the man that she was looking for. After all, she had seen that after the last popsicle was sold he was packing up and had just left. Plus, the popsicle was still new looking from what she could see.

 

“I just hope this doesn’t take long, hard to say how long it’ll be until you save Asuma.” Choji said with a frown on his face. Damn it she knows that but, what was she to do? Tilting her head, the young woman tried to think on what she could do. Wait, there!

 

Narrowing in on a small image, she could faintly make out the image of a single orange reddish tail and blonde hair as the man was turning the corner. He had been there, he had sold Asuma a popsicle! He was the last one to have seen Asuma before he had gone missing! That was it! There had to be something that he could tell her and there was no way that she would allow him to get away with this. Any kind of information would be perfect for her right now, and she had to make sure that she got it.

 

Hm, he was a con man, so how was she to get the information from him in the first place? Wait… “Choji, can you do me a huge favor?” asked Hinata with a sweet smile on her face.

 

Choji blinked in confusion, though he looked at her with a small hint of fear on his face. The sweet smile on her face made her wonder what it was that she was up too. “I want you to look up on any kind of information on a man, a Fox Demon really.”

 

“Who?” asked Choji as he tilted his head to the side.

 

“A demon named Naruto Uzumaki.”


	9. To Hustle the Hustler

Hinata didn’t know what to expect from this. The file was short, that was for sure. Yet at the same time, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that confused her. The file had his name, where he was born and so on. It was a simple file, but she also noticed a few other things in his files. Yet, it still wasn’t much but at the same time it made her really believe that he had never been on the good side of the law after all.

 

_Name: Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze_   
_Race: One Tailed Red Fox Demon (Possible)_   
_Hair: Blonde and Red_   
_Age: 25_   
_Powers: Fire, Wind, Transformation, Illusions_   
_True Form: Crimson Furred Fox_   
_Family: Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki_

 

“Interesting.” Hinata whispered as she looked over the files some more. Yet, his criminal record wasn’t anything huge either. Mostly just dealings going wrong, involved for some kind of knife incident among other things. Yet, why was that?

 

Shaking her head, she looked over a few more things and noticed something else that caught her attention. This may work in her favor. Turning back to his name, Hinata couldn’t help but frown at that. Why was it that when he introduced himself, he only said ‘Uzumaki’ instead of his whole last name? It didn’t make any kind of sense to her. Something that she would have to ask him later.

 

Looking at the picture that was on the file, Hinata wondered just how young he really was when he was arrested. According to this, it said he was sixteen, but at the same time she saw that he looked rather young. Then again, demon’s age differently than humans do, so it’d make sense that he’d look rather young. “Choji, I hope this is everything that you could dig up on Naruto Uzumaki.” Hinata said as she looked up at her Butterfly Demon friend.

 

“It was, though I won’t lie, it took a while since you only said Uzumaki, on his file he has two last names.” Choji said with a frown on his face.

 

“It didn’t take that long. Ten minutes.” Hinata pointed out.

 

“It was long for me. I normally take two minutes tops.” Choji said with a chuckle before taking a deep breath. “Hinata, you better hurry, you’ll never know if you’ll really solve this case.” He held up his hands in defence when he saw her glare. “I’m sorry, you just need to remember, and you were only given two days to solve this case. You need to hurry and make sure that you have all the clues you need.”

 

Hinata knew that he was right. She had to hurry, more so if she was to find Naruto. It was still early in the day, so he would most likely be out hustling other people. If he did the same thing every day, then it would be easy to find him, first thing he did was try to buy a Jumbo-Pop and sucker someone into buying it for him. Though, to be safe she may be able to locate him. She does have a trace of his demonic signature in her memory so location was, well it was easy and it wasn’t. Depending if he was even outside or had somehow hidden himself.

 

“Alright, I think I know where he is, or if he isn’t there I know how to find him.” Hinata said with a big smile on her face.

 

“How?” Asked Choji.

 

“I have my ways.” Hinata answered with a big smile on her face. Honestly, she liked Choji, he was a good friend to her since she started here. Yet, she wasn’t sure if he would even accept her if he knew that she was a priestess. Demons don’t take too lightly to humans, or at the very least a priestess. Closing her eyes for a moment, the young woman just gave Choji a big smile on her face. “Choji, on the chance of me not solving this just know that you are my good friend.”

 

Choji smiled at Hinata before he reached over and gave the blue haired woman a hug. “You are my friend Hinata, no matter if you are a cop or not.” He chuckled a little before letting go of the young woman and just gave her a confident smile. “I think you have a good chance to solve this. If it wasn’t for the time frame, I think you’d be able to solve this without any kind of issue.”

 

Hinata just smiled happily before she made her way to the garage. Honestly, the young woman just hoped and prayed that she wouldn’t have to use her powers. It was the one thing that she hated, though she just hoped and prayed that nothing would force her to use her powers while on this case. It was the only thing that she hated, she wanted to befriend demons, not use her powers to hurt them. Taking a deep breath, Hinata made her way to her ‘little car’ and start it up. Music blaring into her ears, yet it was a soft melody at that.

 

Letting out a deep breath that she didn’t know that she was holding, Hinata just hoped and prayed, with all of her heart that this wouldn’t be the first, and only case that she would be on. The one thing that she wanted, was to be able to find all those demons, Asuma for sure. He had a wife and child to return too. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, the young woman drove out of the garage and started to make her way down the street. Honestly, she just hoped and prayed that Naruto was out and about right now. That would make it a lot easier on her case. Yet, at the same time she almost thought that he wouldn’t be out, that would only make it far too easy for her. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata couldn’t risk it, she knew that this would take too long.

 

Maybe she’d have to use her powers after all.

 

With that thought within her mind, Hinata allowed her powers to surface, her eyes glowing a bright pink as she went about to search for the blonde and red haired fox.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata drove around, her power had led her to the shopping district. Around where one of the best ice cream stores was located. It seemed that she had been right on the money. Thank god she knew what Naruto’s demonic aura felt like, or else it’d be like finding a needle in a hay stack. Oh! _’There he is! And… he has a buggy?’_  Hinata shook her head. If he was the one pushing it, then she felt bad for Kurama if he had to shift into a child again just to fit in there.

 

Shaking her head, she sped up a little more just to catch up to the Fox Demon and called out to him. “Hey Fox!” Hinata called out, causing the blonde/crimson haired man to turn his head and smirk when he saw who it was that had called out to him. Why did he have to have that smile on his face as she drove over to him?

 

“What did I do this time Officer Princess?” Asked Naruto with a chuckle as he kept pushing the buggy ahead of him.

 

“Oh, I just need to ask you a few questions.” Hinata asked with a smile on her face.

 

“Sorry, but I didn’t steal any kind of traffic cones. I think someone else did, you have the wrong guy.” He said with a fake look of hurt on his face before smirking down at her. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go to work.”

 

“Not so fast!” Hinata said as she drove ahead, one more catching up to Naruto before parking in front of him. Once more stopping him in his tracks. Naruto just let out a sigh before rolling his eyes at the blue haired officer. “I need to ask you these questions.”

 

“Make it fast then. I have things to do and make it quiet, Kurama is out cold in there.” Naruto sighed before rubbing his hand over her face.

 

Did her presents really tire him out that much or was he just annoyed with her bothering him like this? Either way, she knew that she had to get all of her answers. “Now, do you know, or have you seen a Monkey Demon at all lately?” Asked Hinata.

 

“A Monkey Demon?” Naruto said with an eyebrow raised at her.

 

“Yes, his name is Asuma Sarutobi. He has a wife and a child and he’s missing.” Hinata said as she pulled out a picture of the man in question. Naruto stared at the picture, his expression was blank as he stared at the picture. It seemed as if he… just didn’t care. Or was it that he was thinking about something else entirely. Taking a deep breath, he looked back up at her and shook his head. “You haven’t seen him, or haven’t seen him recently?” Asked Hinata.

 

“I have seen him, days ago. Though not recently.” Naruto answered before he went to walk away. “I hope that was all, because I don’t know how much I can help you.”

 

Hinata narrowed her eyes at him, did he truly not care?! “I still have more questions for you Naruto. Don’t you care that a woman, a demon non-the-less, is grieving for her mate and may end up going through loss over her mate if he isn’t found!?”

 

Naruto just stared at her, for a moment his eyes flashed crimson almost making Hinata back up in fear. Almost. She kept her ground as she stared at him as she said “Do you not care, that someone who is a demon, like you, may die because she lost her mate? All because you refused to help?” Naruto just again, stared at her. It seemed as if he didn’t really care at all. Was he going to come around knowing that someone who was a demon would die? Or was he just going to walk away?

 

“Sorry.” He said before he went to walk away, only to blink when he saw Hinata just seeming to move in a blur of movement. Looking down, he saw that she had… “Did you just boot my stroller?” Asked Naruto in shock. Turning back to her, he growled at her saying “You can’t do that to me. You have no proof of anything!”

 

“You know, it makes me rather curious. How you can afford everything just selling popsicles and selling the music that you create. Not to mention, using the music that you have sold to play on the streets.” Hinata said with a big grin on her face.

 

Naruto just smirked down at her as he leaned over the grip of the buggy as he stared at her. “I make two hundred bucks a day princess. Every day since I was ten years old!” He laughed a little at that, before smirking down at her saying “Now, unboot my stroller so I can go to work. You have no right to do this to me.”

 

“Oh, I think I have a right to do this.” Hinata said with a smirk of her own.

 

“Oh? What makes you say that?” asked Naruto with an eyebrow raised.

 

“Felony Tax Evasion.” Hinata said, causing Naruto to widen his eyes at her as she started to pull out a note book and started to write some things down. “Okay, you’ve made two hundred since you were ten, multiply that with how many days in a year, plus the leap year.” She smirked down as she said “But, what would I know about math oh, wait, math was one of my best subjects!” She grinned a little before looking back down. “And, if my math is right you made seventy-three thousand and six hundred dollars since then and haven’t reported, or really claimed anything.”

 

Naruto just stared at her in silence as Hinata went on with what she was saying. It seemed that he wasn’t expecting her to really say anything for that matter. “And, lying on a federal form is a punishable offence. Five years jail time.”

 

“Well, it’s my word against yours.” Naruto said as he pulled back and folded his arms across his chest. There was no way he was going to let her win this. After all, he was still a citizen of Utopia, and knew that she wouldn’t be able to prove that he had done any such thing since there was no witness to anything or anyone.

 

Hinata though just grinned all the more as she pulled out a necklace that had a star and a moon-pendent yet he noticed there was something else attached to it. It was small but it looked like it was some kind of button. Hinata pressed the button and… to his luck it replayed back to what he had just said. He wanted to curse himself as he just glared at the blue haired woman that stood before him. “To be honest, it is _your_  word against yours. Now, if you want this necklace and your confession, then you will help me find this demon and help me solve this case. I have less than forty eight hours to do so.”

 

Naruto just growled at her before calming down. He rubbed his face as he then started to hear laughter coming from the stroller. Looking down, he saw that the once drawn lid that once covered his friend was starting to move, causing Naruto to sigh. It seemed that Kurama had heard everything.

 

“She hustled you!” Kurama laughed out loud before standing up and shifted back to his true height and size before smirking. “You’re working with the cops Naruto! You’ll need one of these!” He ripped the sticker that Hinata gave him and stuck it to Naruto’s jacket before walking away. “See ya later when you’re done working for the cops!” Laughed Kurama, he was still laughing the whole way as he walked off.

 

Hinata just blinked as she watched Kurama walk off. She won’t lie, that was a bit interesting to see though turned her attention back to Naruto and gave him a serious look. “Alright, start talking Naruto. Tell me what you know, do you know Asuma and do you know where he could have gone before he went missing?”

 

Naruto groaned as he ran a hand through his spikey locks, giving Hinata a frown before he let out another groan. She wondered why he was so against helping her in the first place. It just didn’t make any kind of sense to her, though she knew that this was her only chance of finding out what happened to Asuma. In the hopes of figuring out what it was that she could do if she couldn’t find out what had happened to him… Then again, she knew what would happen. She’d lose her job.

 

Once more, Naruto just stared at her, as if he was just trying to figure her out himself. It wasn’t until he let out a soft sigh. “I know everyone here in this city.” He claimed, causing Hinata to slap her forehead. Honestly, that was the one thing that he had to say?! “I also, don’t know where he is, but what I do know is where he went.”

 

It wasn’t much of a clue, but if he could just take her to where he saw Asuma go, then it was a start. One that she would be grateful for at the very least. Though, she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that he was going to take her too.

 

Tilting her head, she smiled a little at Naruto as she said “Alright, then let’s get going!” She laughed a little before she started to make her way back to her car, though Naruto’s voice had stopped her.

 

“You know, I don’t think a human would want to go to a place like that.” Naruto said with a smirk on his face when she had turned back to stare at him. Why did he have to look at her like that in the first place? Was there something wrong with the place that he had seen Asuma go to? Or was there something else that she didn’t know about or couldn’t even comprehend in the first place?

 

“It can’t be that bad.” Hinata said with a smile on her face, which almost seemed to make Naruto want to slap his face. Well, at least with the way he was looking at her right now.

 

“If it wasn’t that bad, I wouldn’t have even said it princess.” Naruto deadpanned.

 

“You can stop calling me princess. I’m not a princess.” Hinata sighed softly before getting in her ‘car’ and turned to stare at Naruto once again. “Come on, I’m on a time limit here.” Hinata whined a little, she noticed that Naruto smirked at her for that. God, what was with him and the smirks? It was rather odd to see someone smirking so much, almost as if they had won something already before it had even happened in the first place. It just didn’t seem right, though the young woman knew that she couldn’t allow him to play some kind of mind games with her.

 

Taking a deep breath, Hinata started up the engine as she looked up at Naruto for a moment as she saw that his expression was once again rather passive, it made the young woman curious. Was this how he always looked or was it nothing but a front? Well, an act really, something that would have anyone rather curious about how they acted. Did he act like this to everyone, or just to hide what he really felt? It was hard to say, but knew that it wasn’t her place to ask him for she didn’t know him.

 

Only that he was a con.

 

Taking a deep breath, the young woman started to drive on ahead, wondering where it was that they were going. What kind of place was it that they were going to in the first place? Why had Asuma gone to this place in the first place?

 

Would he be there or would they at the very least, find a clue as to where he could have gone?


	10. To the Club!

The drive was rather quiet, the only sound that was coming from anything was music from the radio. Hinata hated the quiet while driving anywhere. It bothered her, made her nervous and music was the one thing that kept her calm. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at the blonde and crimson haired man as he looked out the window. His expression told her that he was bored like her, though it made her wonder was going through his mind right now.

 

“Turn left here. After that just keep going straight and we should be there.” Naruto’s voice called out.

 

Hinata blinked before turning and kept on driving ahead. He didn’t seem like he was paying any kind of attention though and yet he still seemed to know where they were going. It was rather strange, though then again she didn’t know how his mind worked in the least. Letting out a soft sigh, she looked ahead as she asked “So, what is this place called again?”

 

“The Oasis. It’s a place that Demon’s go to.” Naruto calmly answered.

 

“Have you ever gone there?” asked Hinata.

 

“No. It isn’t my kind of thing. I prefer to be like I am.” What did that mean? What kind of place was it that he was leading her too in the first place? It boggled her mind a little, though for the time being she’d have to wait and see as to what kind of place it was. Not to mention it was the only lead that they had right now.

 

“I see.” Was all she could get herself to say.

 

“Not yet you haven’t.” Was his responds, a smirk growing on his face.

 

Hinata frowned at that. He was being rather cryptic that was for sure. What was he trying to do? Speak to her in some kind of code so no one would ever understand what it was that he was talking about? Or was it because he was hiding some kind of surprise so she couldn’t back out of this?

 

“So, what kind of time limit are you talking about anyway?” Naruto suddenly asked, sounding a little curious.

 

“I was given twenty four hours to solve this case.” Hinata said with a smile. It wasn’t much time, but so far she had a lead, that was enough for her to go on! For that, she was at least a little grateful. Though, she just hoped that she would be able to solve it in time. The last thing she needed was to be distracted by anything and it just made her a little nervous as well. No, not nervous but anxious.

 

Would she be able to solve this in time? Would she still be a cop after this or would there be something more to it than what was ahead of her? Letting out a soft sigh, Hinata kept a look out for anything that would indicate that they were close to this place.

 

Naruto let out a scoff at what she said, causing her to whip her head to glare at him. “Really? They gave you that much time to solve a case? Interesting.” Naruto said with a chuckle.

 

“They haven’t been able to solve this in two weeks and this is my chance to prove to them that I am like them.” Hinata said with a small glare on her face before turning back to the road. God what was with him in the first place? Why did he want to bring her down? Okay, she tricked him to help her, but it was the only way for her to be able to follow this lead in the first place. He was a witness, and had to help her when it comes to solving this case.

 

Taking a deep breath, the young woman tried to get herself to calm down and relax. There was no way that she would allow the Fox Demon next to her to control her way of thinking in the first place. There had to be another way for her to get past his cold exterior so she could get him to act at least a little civil.

 

Though, that may be easier said than done at this point.

 

“You may have bitten off more than you can chew princess.” Naruto said with a chuckle. Now that she thought about it, his chuckles almost seemed hallow, empty. Was he keeping his emotions bottled up? Or, didn’t he know how to feel any kind of joy at all in the first place?

 

Feeling him sitting back a little more on his seat, he stared at Hinata as he asked “You couldn’t have gotten a bigger car?”

 

“No, I couldn’t. This was the only one that they would give me since they didn’t expect me to bring anyone with me for a joy ride.” Hinata said with a sigh. God, why did he have to be like this?

 

“Interesting. So they gave you a loser car eh?”

 

“Are you calling me a loser?!” Hinata snapped.

 

“Far from it. I am only calling the car a loser. Never said anything about the one driving it being a loser.” Naruto calmly pointed out before shaking his head. “I may not like a lot of people, but even I wouldn’t call anyone a loser in the first place. Even a loser can win at something, it just takes a while until you hit something on the head so to speak.” Hinata just blinked as she looked up at him. Was he saying that to be nice or was that just something he believed in? When it seemed like she got some kind of idea as to who he is, she gets thrown into a bit of more confusion and it bothered her all the more.

 

Though she refused to let it show.

 

“Alright, I’ll buy that line for now.” Hinata calmly said before looking up and smiled a little. It seemed that they had finally arrived. There was a sign that said ‘The Oasis’. That was enough for her to go by. “This it?” Asked Hinata, wanting to be sure.

 

“Yup. I won’t lie, I’ll be happy to get out of this, being in this thing hurts my back.” Naruto grumbled before getting out of the car and arched his back. A loud ‘pop’ was heard before he let out a soft sigh of content. “That’s better.” He grumbled before looking at Hinata as she started to lock up her car.

 

Hinata frowned at Naruto, sure she knew that he was taller though did he have to be that upset by the thing? Shaking her head, the young woman opened the door and walked into the building with Naruto in tow. He still had a look of boredom on his face, though she knew that he didn’t want to be here, that was an understatement. Though, she knew that she had to make this fast or else risk losing her job!

 

Looking around the room, it was rather large, though it was also dark. Hinata had to allow her eyes to adjust to the room since the only light in here was from the crack of the door, and the tiny window across the room from her.

 

Yet, what she saw did kind of surprised her.

 

Sitting on the desk in nothing but a pair of forest green pants sat a young man. Maybe the same age as her. He had long deer antlers atop of his head, around his neck was a beaded necklace though, he wore nothing else. His hair was pulled back in a high ponytail. His eyes were closed as he sat there, letting out a soft humming sound as if he was meditating. Though she couldn’t really tell what it was that he was up too.

 

Walking up to him, Hinata cleared her throat as she said “Excuse me?”

 

“…”

 

The man didn’t seem like he heard her. Fantastic. “Hello?” Hinata tried again.

 

“…”

 

Oh come on!

 

 _”Yo deer boy! Wake the hell up!”_  Hinata jumped as she turned to stare at Naruto with wide eyes. What was he doing?! Was he trying to get the man to already hate them to the point of him not sharing any kind of information with her?!

 

The man seemed to have jolted from whatever was on his mind and slowly opened his eyes. Looking around, he saw the Fox Demon, and the blue haired police woman and raised an eyebrow at both of them. “So, how can I help you today?” he asked with a tilt of his head.

 

“I’m Officer Hyuuga. I was wondering if you have seen this man here?” Hinata asked as she held up the photo of Asuma and his family.

 

“Oh, Asuma? Yeah, he’s a regular here. Says that the stress of his job makes him want to come here to unwind when he can’t do that at home.” The man said with a stretch, a few ‘pops’ were heard as he did so. Turning his attention on them once more. He calmly said “Oh, I’m Shikamaru, I’m the owner of this place. Though I wish I wasn’t, it’s such a drag. Anyway, what about Asuma brings you here?”

 

“He’s been missing for about ten days. We’re wondering if he was here at all recently or even before he disappeared?” Hinata asked.

 

“Yeah, I believe he did. I think his Yoga Instructor had seen him. Follow me.” Shikamaru pushed himself up from his desk and started to make his way to the door to open it for them.

 

“I don’t know why you thought I’d be nervous about this place Naruto. It seems fine so far.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“Oh ye of little faith.” Naruto said with a sigh.

 

Huh?

 

Turning back to the door, Hinata blinked as the saw the light coming in from the doorway, almost blinding her for a moment until her eyes refocused with the light. Staring in front of her, Hinata almost panicked and blacked out. There were demons here indeed, yet what else she saw was what made her want to pass out. The demons that have yet to transform were…

 

“Oh god why are they naked?!” shouted Hinata.

 

“Oh, they must have just transformed back. Our rule here is if you’re a member, you have to remove your clothes before transforming. Since most of the time unless you’re careful your clothes will rip apart as your body shifts and changes. We keep our things in a locker in the changing area to avoid risks of things being stolen.” Turning to the human and demon, he calmly added “I guess you can say we are, and aren’t a naturalist club. Since the only purpose to be here is for a demon to change into their true form. As you can tell from me, I’m a Deer Demon.”

 

Of course, Naruto must have known that this was something that wasn’t in the Sacred Lands! Damn him! Turning back to Shikamaru, he went on. “Since I’m normally at the front desk, I’m wearing pants just so I don’t scare people off.” Of course. “Though, it’s a drag since well, we are an open club no doubt. But, there aren’t many people who are willing to transform into their true selves anymore. What about you fox boy?”

 

“Shut up.” Naruto grumbled, his cheeks tinting a little before he looked up at the sky. Hinata guessed that he didn’t like the idea of transforming. Oh well, it wasn’t for everyone, she knew that much.

 

“Anyway, follow me. We shouldn’t be too far from where his yoga instructor should be.” Shikamaru calmly said as he kept on walking ahead. Hinata did a little sightseeing so to speak, looking at the kinds of animals that the demons have turned into. Though, it seemed that some of them were nature based, and only were surrounded by their element. Fire, ice, water, cherry blossom like Kurenai. It was rather amazing, though the amount of demonic aura here was making her a little dizzy.

 

“If you aren’t comfortable here, we can always leave.” Came Naruto’s smug voice.

 

“I’m fine.” Hinata whispered softly, now wanting to give in. Knowing that if she did, then she would let him win, and she would end up losing her job. Taking a deep breath, she tried to focus on Naruto’s aura instead. It kept her mind away from everything else, though she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that they would find here. She just hoped that it was another lead.

 

“Hey, where is Hana?” asked Shikamaru.

 

“She went out on a lunch break. Knowing her, she didn’t tell anyone where she was going and left her phone in her locker.” Said one of the demons that came to this club.

 

“Damn.” Shikamaru said as he ran a hand through his ponytail. “What a drag.” Letting out a soft sigh, the young-looking demon crossed his arms as he was thinking on who else had seen Asuma. Naruto and Hinata looked at each other for a moment before looking back at the Deer Demon. What could be going through his mind right now to make him so quiet right now?

 

“What do you think he’s doing?” asked Hinata in a whisper.

 

“To be honest? I have no idea princess.” Naruto whispered back. Even with the title that he had given her in his statement, it seemed that he was telling the truth. Maybe it was because he didn’t come here at all, just knew the guy possibly in passing or something. Turning back to Shikamaru, she wondered what it was that could be going through his mind, god how she wanted to say something, anything but wasn’t sure what it was that she could say to him.

 

“Wonder, if I poked him would he snap out of it?” asked Naruto with a grin on his face.

 

“Don’t do that!” Hinata hissed under her breath.

 

“Oh come on, don’t tell me you aren’t curious.” Naruto said with a roll of his eyes.

 

Hinata wanted to slap him. Oh, how much she wanted to slap this Fox Demon right now but knew that she had to keep herself calm and collected. There was no way that she could do this to him in the first place. After all, he was still her lead, and she still needed him for the case, at least her gut was telling her that was the case.

 

“I remember the last time he was here…” Mumbled Shikamaru, causing both the police and con to stare at the demon with frowns on their faces. “I remember… a white limo. The sound of the car, it sounded off. Must have needed some kind of tune up.” He mumbled. Wait, was he remembering something? “Asuma seemed worried about something. He wouldn’t tell me what it was.”

 

Hinata was about to open her mouth until Naruto held onto her shoulder. She looked up at him and saw him shaking his head. Was this because if they disturbed Shikamaru, that he would lose track of his train of thought?

 

“Something else.” Shikamaru mumbled under his breath.

 

“You may as well start writing something down in case.” Naruto whispered softly.

 

Nodding her head, Hinata pulled out her notebook and looked up at Shikamaru, waiting for him to say something. Well, to say something important that they would need.

 

“Said he was meeting someone about something. It was someone important, someone he knew very well.” Shikamaru rubbed his face as he groaned a little, it seemed that he was struggling to remember whatever it was that was going through his mind. Was it like someone had just flipped a switch in his memory and he was trying to pinpoint some kind of plot hole in the story or plot point in the story? Weird way to think but, well what more could she really say in the first place? Shaking her head, the young woman groaned a little as she sighed. God, when was this guy going to say something important? She only had so much time left to solve this case!

 

“The license plate.” That was when Hinata perked up at what it was he started to say. “I remember, it said 29THD03.” Shikamaru took a deep shuddering breath as he shook his head and turned his head back, eyes seeming lost and unfocused for a moment. Hinata wanted to reach out to him to see if he was okay until Naruto pulled her back. She stared at him for a moment, wondering why it was that he had stopped her this time though before she could say anything, Shikamaru’s voice broke the silence. “Sorry.” Turning to stare at him, she tilted her head. “I have these weird memory flashes. I sometimes forget things almost right away if they aren’t important enough to remember but if I have a trigger or something, regardless how long ago the trigger was planted I go into some weird memory lapse.”

 

Huh?

 

He took a deep breath as he added “I cannot be disturbed, if I am well, it never ends well.” What would happen if he was snapped out of that memory lapse anyway? Hinata tilted her head though had a feeling by the look on Shikamaru’s face that he didn’t want to share. The look of pain said it all, though she knew that there were more important things to deal with.

 

“Thank you for sharing what you could remember with us Shikamaru. Even if it wasn’t as you had originally planned in the first place.” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

“Well, you are trying to find Asuma right?” He asked with a frown.

 

“Yes, I am.” Answered Hinata.

 

“Please, please find him. He is my friend. I’ve known him my whole life. I don’t know what would happen if something bad happened to Asuma, though I know it would hurt Kurenai and their daughter.” He took a deep breath as he added “I don’t want to even think about what would happen if his daughter had to grow up without either of her parents.”

 

“I’ll find him. I’ll do whatever is within my power to find him for his mate and daughter.” Hinata said with a smile on her face before she started to walk on out. Naruto wasn’t far behind her until a voice had stopped him.

 

“You shouldn’t hide yourself.”

 

“What do you mean?” asked Naruto as he turned and stared at the Deer Demon.

 

“You are hiding what you really are. You are only lying to yourself with that illusion of yours.” Shikamaru pointed out. “What will happen when you are no longer able to hide it? You afraid of losing your friends?”

 

“What friends? I have no friends Shikamaru. Anyway, you should focus on your members, not my personal life or how I live my life.” With that, Naruto walked out of the club, following Hinata to the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally, been meaning to write this for a while, but got distracted with other things going on. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and the little change that I did with the club. But yes, in this club instead of wandering around or being in the nude, demons are able to freely shift here without being judged or anything. Yes, when they are 'free shifting' they don't have to worry about focusing their energy to not shred their clothes because that would drain their energy. Free shifting, allows them to let loose and enjoy themselves and allow them to be well, demons. Which is why they remove their clothes and place them in a locker and wander around either nude before shifting, or shifting back, or just wander around in their true form the whole time. Anyway, later.


	11. Mr. Inu

The drive seemed rather long if Hinata was honest with herself. It seemed that ever since they had left the club, Naruto had been rather withdrawn. Well, more so than usual and that confused her. Honestly, she had thought that he would be making fun of her in some way but it seemed as if he was lost in his own thoughts. It just seemed a little odd since that was all he had done since he had shown his true colours to her not that long ago.

 

“I wonder where I’ll get the numbers looked at… I’m not in the system yet…” Hinata mumbled to herself, not really knowing if Naruto was listening or not. Though, it wasn’t like it would matter much right? Damn it, to think the one thing that she had that could lead her to her next lead and she had no idea on how to get there in the first place!

 

“Don’t care. I brought you to the club, you can drop me off around the corner. I’m sure you can find any idiot to scan that for you.” Naruto grumbled softly, sounding rather uninterested in what was happening around him. Why was he like this? Did Shikamaru say something to him before he left the club or was this just how he was when he was bored out of his mind? As soon as she thinks, (key word thinks) that she has something about him figured out something else would throw her for a loop.

 

Hinata just rose an eyebrow at him though, there was no way that she would let him out of her sight yet. He could still lead her to more clues. She had no idea why that was, but it was a gut feeling. Something was telling her to keep him around plus, he seemed to know his way around Utopia so that had to mean something right?

 

“Sorry, but you’re not going anywhere.” Hinata calmly said.

 

“We had a deal. I lead you to where he was seen last. So give me the necklace and let me go!” Naruto groaned with a whine.

 

“What did you say? Any idiot could scan a plate?” Hinata said with a small smile on her face. It was lacking any kind of cockiness outta it. Not wanting to make this any worse for the fox than she most likely already was but, she couldn’t help it right now. This was the first real clue they had in this case since Asuma had gone missing in the first place.

 

The only sound from the fox was a groan as he held onto his face. Running his fingers through the blonde locks quickly to the point that it almost made Hinata wonder if he was trying to rip his hair out by the roots. Wait, would a demon even be able to rip their hair out or would it just grow back right after? Puzzling. “I know a guy.” Grumbled Naruto as he leaned against the seat with a huff. It seemed that Hinata won this round as well, and for that right now well, she was very thankful for it. “Turn here.” Naruto pointed out, pointing where they had to turn. Though it made her wonder where he was leading her to this time.

 

“So, who is this guy that you know?” asked Hinata.

 

“I guess he’s a friend of mine, or just an acquaintance from high school. He was seen as an odd guy but he’s a good guy. One of the few people that is willing to put up with me and my shit.” Naruto said with a sigh.

 

“Because you’ve conned so many people?” Hinata asked with a frown.

 

“That and… we see things roughly the same way.” What did that mean? What did they see the same way? “Anyway, he is still one of the few people I talk too from high school and he owes me a couple favours for helping him out in high school from bullies.” Wait, Naruto protected someone from bullies? And, who would need protection from bullies anyway? Sure, she knew that some demons tended to bully anyone, no matter if they are humans or demons but still for a Fox Demon to stick up for another demon it made her curious if Naruto had been very brave, or just very stupid for not picking his own fights properly.

 

“Still curious as to who could put up with you. Since you already get on my nerves.” Hinata said with a small smile before looking on ahead. Making sure that they wouldn’t crash into someone.

 

“You seem to handle me just fine, since you are still holding me hostage. Maybe after the case, I’ll tell the cops that one of their newbies held me hostage until I helped solved this case.” Naruto said with a smirk on his face.

 

Hinata just rolled her eyes. At least he still had some kind of joke in him. To be honest, she felt odd without him at least being able to joke around regardless if she wanted to smack him or not. Okay yeah, she knew that he was still mad that she won’t let him go yet. But it was a good thing she hadn’t, after all he had a way for her to get this plate scanned and of course to find the last person to have seen Asuma.

 

“So, who is this friend of yours anyway?” asked Hinata.

 

“Meh, he was an artist in high school. That was all he would ever really do to be honest. Spending all of his free time drawing, painting or sculpting something one way or another. He was really good with his hands.” Naruto said with a shrug. “He could have been with any girl he wanted with talented hands but he has a nasty habit of being far too open.” Hinata looked up a little confused by that part. What did that mean? “He would say something that shouldn’t be said. Such as ‘Why do you eat so much when you are already so fat?’ stuff like that. He’s gotten a bit better over the years from that but well, he’s still too honest.”

 

“We’re here, just up ahead.” Naruto calmly pointed out. That caused Hinata to look up and blinked at the DMV building that was ahead of them. Wasn’t anything fancy though she couldn’t help but be curious about who it was that was inside the building that could help them with their problem. Tilting her head a little, Hinata looked over at him as she wanted to ask how he was going to be able to help them, if the DMV is normally very busy.

 

“He’s normally on his break around this time. Though I also can’t be sure if he’s even working today.” Naruto said with a shrug.

 

“How can you not know if he’s working today?” Hinata said with shock.

 

“Because I’m normally busy-“

 

“Most likely conning other people.”

 

“And he isn’t allowed to have his cell on him and I can’t call him while he’s working.” Naruto finished, sending Hinata a small glare for a moment before he looked away. “Can you stop mentioning about the cons already? It’s starting to piss me off. I get it, I’m a con man. Just end it already damn it.”

 

“Sorry.” Hinata whispered softly.

 

Naruto rubbed his face as he tried to get himself to calm down and relax. It seemed that always being called a con, even though it was true, still bothered him. Why though? Hinata didn’t really understand though, she figured that it was because cons were always seen in a bad light and that was what bothered him. She figured it does make sense, so she could understand. After all, it was like how legends say how humans were made from clay and all humans hate that.

 

“So, what’s his name?” asked Hinata.

 

Naruto blinked as he looked over at Hinata… only to look away. “His name is Sai. Though, I should warn you do not take some of his comments seriously.”

 

“But you said he speaks his mind…”

 

“He does, that is without a doubt but… he also doesn’t know better. He says things he shouldn’t, more so because he was an orphan.”

 

Hinata stared in shock. Only to frown a little more. “But, wouldn’t he have anyone to go too to have learned this stuff?” she asked with a frown in confusion.

 

“To be honest? No. Sai was mostly alone, only having his best friend with him in the orphanage. Yet…” Naruto sighed softly before turning to the young woman next to him. “There was an attack while he and his friend were out and about. Demon’s attacked them and, while his friend was rather sickly and weak he still defended Sai until…”

 

Hinata couldn’t help but stare in confusion and concern. “His friend was killed in front of Sai’s very eyes. Since then, he’s kept to himself, never really getting close to anyone nor talking to people. He lacked social skills because of it. His smile was always fake and no one ever really knew what was ever going through his mind and got beat up for it.”

 

“He got beat up because of smiling?” Hinata said with confusion.

 

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto calmly said “Like I said, no one ever really knew what he was thinking. It was how I found him that day in high school. He was getting the shit beaten out of him, I protected Sai and took him to the nurse’s office. Told him that he shouldn’t try to pick fights with demons and his answer? Well that made me laugh.”

 

“What was it?”

 

“He said something like ‘They had small brains so I assumed they also had the dicks to match’.” Naruto chuckled a little, to be honest that was the first time she’s ever heard him laugh in humor. It was odd, but it wasn’t bad that was for sure. Though she wasn’t sure if she should find that funny so for now she just gave him a small smile at what he said. “Told him after that, that he’ll need someone to help him through school against other demon’s, I’d protect him and hoped that he would learn when to, and not to, say anything.”

 

“Has he?”

 

“Hell no. He still gets his ass handed to him now and again. Never shuts up about something or another but he gets his work done.” Naruto said with a soft sigh before looking out the window and saw that they were now in the parking lot of the DMV. “Let’s get this show on the road now shall we?” He chuckled a little more before stepping out of the car and started to stride on into the building.

 

Hinata, had to act quickly, getting out of her car and locking up behind her. Damn, he was in a hurry to go inside. Though, then again she was still on a time limit herself so may as well get this over and done with so they could get on to the next lead that they would have. Though, she just hoped that they would find something here. The idea of not finding anything made her nervous, thinking that she would have put her career on the line for nothing and she felt like a true fool for doing so in the first place.

 

Taking a deep breath, the young woman tried to get herself to calm down and relax, hoping that her nerves would calm down and relax long enough for her to talk to this Sai character.

 

Looking around as she walked in, she saw that there were long lines of people trying to get paper work done or getting their photo taken for their driver’s license among other things. A few people were getting tired of waiting, the lines seem rather long just from the expressions on their faces. Interesting.

 

“Wait, all of them are humans.” Hinata pointed out.

 

“Yeah, no demon wants to work in a place like this since it isn’t important enough.” Naruto calmly said with a shrug. “Demons only do the important jobs, like construction, a lawyer, fire fighter… cop.” Hinata frowned at the last job he mentioned as she gazed up at him. Just as she was about to say something, she saw Naruto walking on ahead as she heard him saying something like “Yo Sai the Artist! You are working today! On break dude?”

 

Hinata looked on ahead, wondering who it was that he was talking to. Though, what had surprised her was a well, he was a good looking guy. So it surprised her when Naruto said that he was beat up as a child. He had long hair that was swept over to the side for the most part. Black as the darkest of nights, as were his eyes. Yet, it was his skin that almost threw her off, for it was paler than her own which she didn’t think was possible.

 

He wore a simple black shirt with a white tie, making him stick out a little bit. Well, that and the smile that he had on his face though if she looked closely she saw that it seemed almost… forced. As if he had no idea how to be truly happy. Blinking herself out of her shock, the young woman quickly rushed up to the counter until she stood next to Naruto. “Hey Naruto, what brings you by today?” the man, Sai asked as he tilted his head to the side.

 

“Oh, I just need to ask you for a favour is all. Nothing huge or anything like that. See, this,” Naruto said, tilting his head quickly to the side toward Hinata with a grin on his face. Hinata didn’t like that look on his face for some reason. “Is Hinata, she wants you to run a license plate. Think you can do it?”

 

Sai looked between Naruto and Hinata, though his gaze fell on Hinata for a moment. She couldn’t help but shift from side to side. Why was he staring at her like that? It was making her rather uncomfortable and fidgety. “Naruto, I didn’t think you’d find a beautiful woman to spend time with.” Okay, she could accept that compliment, even though she felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Though, it’s more so surprising for you to find a beautiful woman who has such large breasts.”

 

Hinata blushed a deep crimson and went to slap Sai across the face…

 

Only for Naruto to grab her wrist. Looking up at him, she saw him shake his head slightly before he turned to his friend. “Sai, what have I told you about what you say man? Come on, women don’t like it when you point out their boobs. Makes you seem like a creep.” Sai’s smile remained on his face, didn’t Naruto’s words phase the guy at all? Hinata took a deep breath before she felt Naruto’s grip loosen on her. “Now, what do you say Sai?”

 

“I’m sorry Miss Hyuuga. I was out of line.” Sai said, a small frown marring his face. For once it seemed that he felt bad about what had happened. Though, she couldn’t be sure if he had felt bad for what he had said before in the past since, this was after all her first time meeting the man. “So, what is the plate number?”

 

Hinata reached into her pocket and pulled out her notebook before she started to read out the number for Sai. “29THD03.” Looking up at him, she saw him turning to his screen and started to slowly type in the plate number. The hell? Looking up at Naruto, she saw that he was snickering behind his hand. He found this amusing?!

 

“So Sai, any good art you’ve been working on?” asked Naruto.

 

Hinata frowned at that. What could he be up too right now?

 

Sai smiled. Okay, she had a weird feeling running down her spine that was starting to bother her right now. It almost seemed as if Sai wasn’t going to speak and just go back to his task at hand… until he opened his mouth. “Well, I started to try out this new drawing style. And I must say, it’s working for me. The strokes of my brush and coloured pencils just seem to flow onto the paper!”

 

He wouldn’t stop talking about it. Hinata didn’t know how that was even possible, but he just didn’t seem to run out of things to say when he was only talking about art? Did Naruto know about this? Was he doing this just to waste more of her time? Dear god she would have to teach him a lesson later on. Though, how she was to do that she had no idea as of yet. But she’ll find something out just not sure when that will be yet.

 

“I think though that I need some models at some point. Think you or Ms. Hinata would be able to pose for me?” Sai said with a big smile on his face.

 

Hinata just blinked. Why would he ask her to be a model when he only just met her? It didn’t make any kind of sense. Though before she could even answer that, Naruto beat her to the punch. “Answer me this Sai, is it a painting where she will be clothed?” Wait what? “Because if it isn’t, then you can’t ask someone that if you just met them dude. It’s rude and very impolite.”

 

As if he knew about being polite to anyone. Though, she won’t lie he has been nice despite the fact that he is slowing time down for the two of them.

 

“Well, it was going to require her to be naked yes.” Sai said without breaking his smile. God it was kind of creepy how he was able to keep that smile on his face. “But, if that makes her uncomfortable I do have another kind of painting that she could pose for. She has the perfect figure for it.” Wait what?

 

“Somehow I doubt that.” Naruto grumbled blandly.

 

“Give me some faith Naruto.” Sai said with a chuckle before he went back on about his painting. Typing away at his computer as he started to look up on the plate number. Though, she couldn’t help but notice that he seemed to type rather slowly. Hm, looking closer she saw that he seemed to have some trouble bending his fingers a little bit. What happened to him?

 

“I broke my fingers as a kid.” Sai spoke up, causing Hinata to look up in shock. “I was trying to run away from some demon children who were bulling me only to slip on the wet bridge. I was able to grab a hold of the edge but one of them caught up to me and stomped heavily on my fingers hoping to get me to fall in.” Sai sighed softly, a small frown marring his face as if the memory still haunted him. “I was thankful that the drop wasn’t high and that there was water below me to break my fall but I was badly sick afterwards and my fingers can’t bend properly again. Typing is hard for me but I also get by with painting since with that, you can take your time.”

 

Hinata looked up at Naruto and saw that even he seemed to be in shock. He just stared, his lips parted in disbelief. Didn’t he know that? Or was that something that Sai never shared with him in the first place?

 

Honestly, she never knew that demons would pick on humans so much. It confused her and maybe even disgusted her. Sure, she lived in a small village but there for the most part demons and humans lived in peace and harmony. Even though she was attacked as a child, she still didn’t hold it against demons. At least, not innocent ones who have done no wrong in their lives but, if they can redeem themselves then they can be good. Yet, thinking about her past, she couldn’t help but reach up and touch her scarred cheek. The scars may have faded but she could still feel them.

 

“There we go.” Sai said, breaking out Hinata of her thoughts as she saw him ripping the paper from the printer and held it out to Hinata. “I hope this helps you.” Sai said with a smile on his face.

 

Hinata grabbed the paper saying “Thank you” quickly as she started to read over the paper. “It belongs to a limo rental in Tundra Town!” Hinata said, bouncing in joy before she started to run out of the doors with Naruto in tow. Him of course saying something to Sai about owing him one later and making a mad dash out of the DMV. “Okay, we need to hurry because I don’t know how much time we have left and _-it’s night?!”_

 

* * *

 

 

The entire car ride, Hinata could hear Naruto laughing and snickering in the seat next to her. Of all the stupid, jerk… no, asinine things to do he had to waste time that she almost didn’t even _have in the first place_  and he’s laughing his ass off! Her grip tightened over the steering wheel of her car as she heard Naruto snickering a little into his hand. _’Go ahead, laugh it up.’_  Hinata thought to herself before she took a deep breath, hoping to calm herself down.

 

Though, thankfully they were almost to their location. A limo rental service was where Asuma’s limo was from. Though, she just hoped that they would have any kind of information that would give them another strong lead.

 

“Come on, you have to admit that it was pretty funny that Sai can take a long time.” Naruto said with a chuckle.

 

“No, I didn’t. I’m on a time limit here Naruto and I have to find Asuma before that time runs out.” Hinata grumbled before parking the car near the gate of the rental service building. Locking up after she got out of the car, the young woman started to make her way over to the gate and cursed under her breath. The gate was closed with a chain link and a strong lock.

 

“Aw, looks like it’s closed for the night. Oh well, I guess you have to let me go since I can’t help you further than this.” Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders and turned to the young woman next to him as he held out his hand. “Now, hand over the necklace so I can be on my way.” He said with a cold stare.

 

No, there was no way that she would allow this to end this way. There had to be a way for her to get in, though she also knew that unless she had a warrant she couldn’t get in. Unless… yeah that could work.

 

Looking around once again, she saw that there was a gap in the fence, small enough that if she adjusted herself properly that she could easily fit through or at least, her foot would fit and she could easily jump over the fence. Letting out a fake sigh, Hinata grabbed her necklace and tossed it over the fence. Naruto just stared at her agape before rolling his eyes. “You are such a sore loser.” He grumbled before he started to climb the fence to get over.

 

Hinata though grinned, Naruto was completely focused. She rushed up to the fence and jumped, her foot landing on the chain link before grabbing the top of the fence from her second jump and flipped herself over the fence and landing in the soft snow. Good he still was focused on the necklace as he picked it up and he grinned in victory. “Good luck Officer Princess.” Naruto said with a grin on his face.

 

“Two things.” Hinata said, causing Naruto to stare at her in shock. “One, that necklace is a fake I tossed over.” Naruto looked at the necklace in his hand and snarled. It was just a necklace that had a fake pink jewel and there was no buttons or slits for a voice to come out. “And, you don’t need a warrant if you spy a sneaky individual going on privet property so you’re helping plenty!” Hinata said with a giggle.

 

Naruto snarled a little before breaking the necklace in his hand. His eyes flashed red for a brief moment, causing Hinata to freeze up in fear. Backing up a bit, her scar burning from the demonic aura that she felt shifting around Naruto. “Naruto?” she said, her voice shaking slightly.

 

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes and at that moment Hinata felt the aura shifting back to the point that his aura vanished. Most likely seeping back into his body. “Sorry. I…” He looked like he was going to speak but shook his head before grumbling “Let’s just go find that limo” and after that started to walk away with his hands in his pockets. Hinata couldn’t help but stare in confusion. Not sure what it was that had just happened but, his aura was far stronger than a two tailed fox. What was he?

 

Shaking her head, the young woman followed Naruto. Making sure that she kept a good look out for the limo that held their plate in question.

 

There were maybe ten limos, or more, Hinata had no idea. Though, she just hoped that it wouldn’t take long for them to find it.

 

“Yo, Hinata, is this it?” called Naruto, causing the blue haired cop to look over and make her way over to the white limo. Tilting her head, she started to dust the plate off and stared in shock.

 

“29THD03… this is it.” Hinata whispered before opening the car, turning on the light on her cellphone as she and Naruto started to look around in the car. Hoping to find any kind of clue as to what could have happened to Asuma after he stepped into this limo. Or at least, if they hadn’t cleaned this out since Asuma has been missing for over a week. They had to have cleaned this at some point right?

 

“Oh my god!” called Naruto, causing Hinata to jump a bit.

 

“What?” she asked.

 

“This is Junna! Great singer, I would kill to meet her to be honest.” Naruto said as he held onto a CD case, his tails wagging slightly behind him showing just how happy he was to have found something like that. He let out a soft sigh before putting the CD’s back. “Though, who uses CD’s anymore anyway?” He asked, honestly Hinata couldn’t help but roll her eyes at him for that. He scared her to death from that!

 

“Um… Princess? If your Monkey Demon was here well, I guess he had a bad day.” Naruto said, shock hitting him hard. Hinata frowned before making her way to Naruto seeing how he was looking through a window that lead to the back seat and gasped in surprise. What she saw in the back though was what surprised her the most.

 

There were nothing but claw marks all over the place. It almost seemed as if there had been some kind of attack in here. Or, was he the one that was attacked? Looking around, she noticed something on the floor, her curiosity got the best of her before she bent down and picked it up and stared. “A wallet?” She whispered before opening it up to see any kind of I.D and smiled. “This is Asuma’s wallet. He was here alright.”

 

“Hm…” Naruto looked around he looked down and saw a few strands of hair. Or was that fur? Picking it up, he gave it a sniff and scrunched up his nose. “Dog hair. No, this belongs to a demon.” Hinata just stared at him in confusion. Naruto’s shoulders seemed tense, what could he be nervous about? Soon, Naruto’s gaze fell on a glass that was on the floor and lifted it up. “Fancy glass with a big I… hm…”

 

Kneeling on his knees, he held up his hand and with everything he listed off whispering under his breath but enough for Hinata to hear he would raise a finger. “Junna music, Dog Demon fur, and a fancy glass…” His eyes suddenly widened in shock as he quickly started to put everything back in place. “We have to get out of here! I know whose car this is and we have to leave _now!”_

 

“Who and… we can’t leave, this is a crime scene!” Hinata complained.

 

“We have no choice! This limo belongs to Mr. Inu, Utopia’s top crime boss and he does _not_  like me so we have to go _now!”_  Just as he said that, Naruto opened the door only to gulp as he stared at two huge, and buff looking Dog Demons and gulped a bit. They looked like twins, though one had white hair, while the other had black. The one with black hair had golden eyes while the one with white hair had black eyes. It almost looked like they were fitting the ying-yang thing, but what parents would name their children after that? The only thing that they wore that was even close to matching was the black suits that they wore. Yet, their ties were different, the one with black hair wore a white tie, while the one with white hair wore the black tie.

 

“Karu! Yami! So good to see you two again! I was just in the neighbourhood and thought I’d drop by to see if Mr. Inu needed anything but I guess he still doesn’t so we’ll just be on our way!” Naruto said, hoping to get out of this only to both demons to grab their shirts and dragged them to their car. “Okay, looks like we have to see him anyway! Okay!”

 

Hinata yelped when one of them grabbed at her shirt, and in the process her chest. Slapping the raven haired man’s hand, imbuing it with sacred energy she said “Do _not_  grab my chest again! Do you understand?!” The man nodded, his face tinting with a faint blush yet his expression was still hard as stone. He carefully grabbed Hinata’s arm this time and walked her to the car before they drove off.

 

As they drove, Hinata looked over at Naruto and saw that he was rather stiff and rigid. What happened to make him so scared for his life? “So, what did you do to make this Mr. Inu man mad at you?” she asked softly.

 

“He um… well uh… wanted me to marry his daughter and I won’t lie I liked her. Nice girl and all but I didn’t feel anything for her so I… um… left her.”

 

“Please say you didn’t leave the poor girl at the altar.”

 

“No! I would never do that! No, I tried to tell Mr. Inu time and time again that I wasn’t interested but he didn’t listen to me so… I just disappeared. I didn’t tell them where I was going and I think that hurt his daughter’s feelings.” Naruto explained.

 

“At least you didn’t sell him a rug from an animal’s butt that would have been worse.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“Um…”

 

“Oh god you didn’t…”

 

“Now, define sell? If you mean I just left him a rug made from my own tail’s fur, which I mind you isn’t really from my butt per say, and just left it without really accepting any kind of payment then yes, I did sell him a fur rug.” Naruto said, his skin growing a little pale.

 

Oh god, Hinata buried her face in her hands, not believing how this was all happening right now. Lifting her head, looking between the two Dog Demons as they just looked at their phones. “So, are their names really?”

 

“Yeah, Karu is the one with white hair, Yami is the one with black hair. I don’t know why but their mother must have liked the idea of their names being light and dark. Though, oddly enough Yami is the good one while Karu is the bad one.” That explains why he listened to her when he grabbed her chest and she was mad at him for it. Though, Hinata couldn’t help but wonder if she was going to die because of Naruto at this point.

 

“I’m starting to regret tricking you to join me on this.” Hinata grumbled under her breath.

 

“Shut up, I never wanted to come on this trip anyway.” Naruto bit back.

 

The ride was silent after that. Just a few grunts from the Dog Demon brothers but that was about it. Looking out the window, Hinata saw that they were coming up to a giant manor, it reminded her of the one she grew up in. Though, hers was more traditional and was only one floor, while this one is from what she could see maybe about three floors and looked like a castle.

 

But, it still held a homey feel to it. That much was for sure though, she had no idea how that reflected this Mr. Inu guy. Who was he and was he only mad at Naruto or was it something else? Letting out a soft sigh, she just hoped and prayed that nothing went wrong here.

 

Soon, the pair found themselves at the main entrance and the two Dog Demons grabbed them and had pretty much dragged them inside. Though, like last time Yami grabbed Hinata by her arm this time around, and Karu grabbed Naruto by his shirt and dragged him. At least Hinata was thankful that she had the good twin. Though, would have liked to be walked in rather than dragged in.

 

Looking around, Hinata saw that they were walking down a long hallway only to end up being shoved into a small room, though if she could really say anything, she felt a deep chill running through her bones. God, why was it so damn cold in here?

 

The room itself could fit maybe ten people, there was a desk that seemed like it was made out of a special wood so it wouldn’t fall apart from the moisture in the air. A lamp and of course a fire place behind the desk. Most likely to help keep them warm.

 

Turning her gaze, she saw another door as it opened up. A few more Dog Demon’s walked in, all of them different but all wore the same suit. One was blonde, auburn, red and so on. “Which one of them are Mr. Inu?” asked Hinata.

 

“None, just wait.” Naruto whispered.

 

Frowning, Hinata looked up and saw a tall man, he was regal and seemed to be rather elegant. His short hair a colour of the dark night sky. His eyes were a deep gold that could almost look into your soul. His hair though was mostly hidden by a silken hat that matched his black suit. It even had a black tie and a… was that a red flower attached to his suit? But there was something that confused her about this man. His aura didn’t feel like that of a Dog, far from it.

 

There was no way that could be Mr. Inu.

 

Yet, the man sat down on the big red seat and spun around to face Naruto and Hinata. He removed his hat and under it, his spikey hair bounced from the motion and his ears twitched, as did the slim tail behind him. “Huh?” Came Hinata’s responds.

 

“Mr. Inu, I am so sorry!” Naruto said, taking a step forward as he tried to apologise. Hinata just stared in shock. This was Mr. Inu?! But, this was a Cat Demon! Before Naruto could say more, Mr. Inu held out his hand which had a gold ring with a huge ruby atop of it. Naruto knew what the man wanted and reached over, kissing the jewel before cupping his hands together in a pleading gesture. “It is all a misunderstanding.” Naruto said with a small smile.

 

“Naruto, you know what would happen should I ever see your sorry face again after you hurt my daughter.” Mr. Inu said with a hiss.

 

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t love her. I tried telling you that sir but you wouldn’t listen to me.” Naruto said, trying to plead his case.

 

“Don’t. I don’t want to hear your excuses. I would have forgiven you for that, if you hadn’t left your ‘parting gift’.” Mr. Inu said with a glare. “A rug, made from your tail fur. Right near your ass. You disrespected me, you disrespected my daughter. Even my own grandmother, who cared about you like a son. She made you her famous pies for you and what you did? Broke her heart. I had to bury her and the only thing I could find to wrap her in was that stupid forsaken rug you left me!”

 

Okay, he was pissed, not that Hinata could blame him. Turning to Naruto, she saw the sullen look on his face. Did this… this must have really hurt him. What could she do to help the situation in the first place?

 

“You. The girl in the cop outfit.” Hinata blinked as she turned her attention to the demon in front of her. “Is that some kind of costume? Why are you dressed like that anyway?”

 

“I-“

 

“She’s a street performer! And her talent is to be silent for her performance!” Naruto said quickly.

 

“Shut up Naruto.” Hinata said with a sigh before turning to Mr. Inu. “I am a cop, and I’m looking for a Monkey Demon named Asuma Sarutobi. Who, was in one of your limos before he went missing. If you know where he is, you are to tell me or you shall be arrested for withholding information from a police officer during an investigation.” Naruto slapped his forehead, why that was Hinata had no idea nor did she care at the moment.

 

“Well, then I have one thing to say. Say hello to my grandmother.” Wait what? “Ice them!” shouted Mr. Inu.

 

“Wait no!” shouted Naruto and Hinata as two demons grabbed them, another removed the rug that they once stood on before removing a plank of wood. A pool of swirling ice was under them, causing both of them to scream and cry out in fear.

 

“Please don’t!” Shouted Hinata.

 

“Daddy, time for our dance!” called out a woman who walked into the room. She had black hair much like the man. Though she lacked the eye colour while hers is a bright green. She wore a beautiful white sparkling dress with a flower veil that was now draped behind her head. And she even wore long white gloves leaving her fingers bare.

 

Mr. Inu looked at the girl, most likely his daughter. He was about to say something until her gaze fell on Naruto and Hinata. “Dad, what have I told you about icing people at my wedding?!” Said the woman, glaring at her father.

 

“I have too my dear, this is what must be done.” Mr. Inu said with a sigh before turning back to the pair. “Ice them.”

 

“Wait!” shouted Inu’s daughter, causing Hinata and Naruto to blink in shock. The woman made her way over to Hinata and stared at her for a moment. Only for her eyes to widen. “I know you!” Turning back, the girl said “Dad, this is the cop I told you about! The one that saved me from those sacred knives!”

 

“This cop?”

 

“Yeah!” She said with a smile before turning to Hinata. “It’s nice to see you again!”

 

“Same, oh I love your dress.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“Thank you.” The bride said with a smile.

 

“Set them down away from my desk.” Inu said with a soft sigh, only to smile softly. “You were the one that saved my dear Shizuka.” Looking over at Hinata, he calmly said “I am in your debt, for you have saved the last piece I have of my beloved wife. I shall pay it forward.”

 

Hinata just smiled, while Naruto stared in shock. “Now, please, join us for the wedding and we shall talk there.” Hinata nodded her head before she and Naruto made their way to the wedding.

 

Honestly, she had no idea that it would turn out like this. It was the last thing that she would ever have on her mind though at the moment she wouldn’t care. Though before she got far, she felt someone grab a hold of her causing Hinata to frown and turn around only to see Mr. Inu stare at her with curiosity. “I have a question though for you. After this, you can ask anything of me.” Hinata tilted her head, though allowed him to ask. “Do they know you are a priestess? My daughter explained everything to me, as have one of my men when he… grabbed your chest and you slapped him.”

 

Hinata’s eyes widened in shock. How, but… damn it! “Do not fear, I do not plan to tell anyone of this but I do wish to know. Why do you want to be a cop instead of a priestess?”

 

“Because I was next in line, and I didn’t want a fight with my younger sister. She has stronger abilities than I do and this way I can follow my own destiny instead of the one that was set out for me. I don’t like my powers but I will use them if I have too.”

 

“Good.” He calmly said before walking on ahead, leaving Hinata alone with her own thoughts as she followed.


	12. A Lead

“Asuma was a friend of the family. Since he and his wife own a flower shop, and thanks to his wife’s abilities with flowers you could get any kind of flower there.” Mr. Inu said with a sigh as he leaned back in his seat. Hinata frowned a little, it almost felt like just thinking about the Monkey Demon was enough to wear down on the poor man. “So, while we were planning my daughter’s wedding, I have come to see Asuma being a little off.”

 

“What do you mean?” asked Hinata, her full attention on the man next to her.

 

If she was honest though, she had thought that he would have spent more time out on the floor with his daughter. Yet, turning her gaze, even for a moment to the dance floor Hinata couldn’t help but notice all the dancing couples that were out there. Shizuka was smiling as she danced with her groom. A handsome man at that from what she could make out though they were still a bit out of her range of sight.

 

“Asuma had been nervous about something.” Mr. Inu said, causing Hinata to turn back to him with a frown on her face. “I had asked him a few times but he shrugged it off as if he couldn’t really explain it to me himself.” The older man leaned back in his seat, his elbows resting on the arms of his chair and hands held together as he tried to think of his next set of words carefully. “Yet, over the course of weeks, Asuma started to get more… nervous? Scared? I’m not really sure what it was that I could see in him. But he had told me sometime before he disappeared so I could talk to him.”

 

“He was going to tell you what was going on?” asked Hinata with a frown.

 

“So, what was so important that he had to tell you after all this time instead of just being up front with it?” asked Naruto, finally saying something after he stopped stuffing his face with cake. Hinata turned to see Naruto wiping his face on a napkin before setting his fork back on his plate as well as his napkin. “What was so important that he couldn’t wait to tell you?”

 

“That I can’t say.” Mr. Inu said with a sigh, a small glare sent toward the Fox demon but refrained himself from saying anything he’d regret later. “I had sent my best driver to get him, to bring him here so we could discuss what had been troubling him for so long yet, it never arrived.” Just the memory itself seemed as if it was draining the poor man. Was it even possible for Demon’s to be drained like this? Or was this more connected to emotional than power?

 

“Was it because he was attacked?” asked Hinata with a frown.

 

“Him? Attacked?” Mr. Inu looked at them with a twisted smirk that almost made Hinata want to pull out her gun. “What makes you think he was attacked sweet child?”

 

“Because of the state of the car.” Hinata said.

 

“Yeah, all those scratches and how the seats looked like they’ve been torn up and ripped to shreds.” Naruto added.

 

Mr. Inu’s smile, somehow grew more twisted in that moment. His eyes turning into narrowed slits, he almost looked like he was about to attack in that instant. Hinata was about to react herself, until Naruto pulled her back as he whispered “Just wait… He will attack you if you even flinch when he is like this. It is part of his demonic abilities. Violence is what triggers it, if he thinks of it, he’ll go to a dark place. If he sees even a small flinch like you almost did, then he would have attacked you.” Naruto stared at her for a moment before he stared at the still triggered Cat Demon. “Sir, you need to calm down.”

 

The moment Naruto said those words, it seemed that it brought out a part of the cat demon, as Mr. Inu dug his claws into the arms of his chair, his body trembling as his breathing intensified, yet still looking ready to attack in that moment, until Hinata acted. She knew that this was a gamble since there was still a chance of it hurting him but she could at least try to do this. Though, she saw Naruto stand up, as if to get something. Was it because Mr. Inu had at least calmed down where he wouldn’t attack. Yet, the older man held up his hand and spoke. “No, leave her be and allow her to enjoy her wedding.” That had confused Hinata, Naruto frowned a little before sitting down.

 

Reaching out, she carefully grabbed a hold of his arm, not enough to start a jerk of motion. Her hands glowed a soft pink light as she only allowed to send soothing emotions to the man. His eyes just seemed to stare at Hinata for a moment. Naruto was about to reach for her to pull her back until seeing the Cat’s eyes started to return to normal. The young woman pulled her hand back as she said “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have grabbed you like that.”

 

“No, it is alright. I shouldn’t have allowed myself to be set off like that. It still bothers me thinking about my friend that I just… lose my mind.” He laughed a little at that before letting out a soft sigh. Staring at the dance floor, Mr. Inu calmly went on. “No, he was far from being attacked. Rather, he attacked the driver.” Naruto and Hinata gasped in shock.

 

“But, he’s a sweet demon man that has a loving wife and child.” Hinata whispered gently in shock.

 

“Sweet? Miss, there are some things that you can never understand about us demons. We may have evolved from our most basic desires, basic threats.” He turned to stare at her from that moment, most likely indicating to her spiritual powers. “But we are only that, demons. There are things that even we, ourselves, could never fully understand. But we still follow parts of our desires.” Follow their desires? What does that mean in the first place? What desires could it be? Was it hunger? Sleep? Fighting? What was it? “Anyway sweet child, I know you have more questions for me, but sadly I cannot answer those for you. But I know someone who can. My driver, the very one that had driven Asuma before he disappeared. His name is Iruka, I’ve given him some time off to recover from his attack with Asuma. I don’t know how much he’ll speak with you both but it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

 

“Thank you sir. Um, where does he live?” asked Hinata.

 

“His home is in the Rain Forest District. Just… be gentle with him alright? Before the attack he was a well-mannered man who cared about others now he just wishes to hide away.” Both Naruto and Hinata nodded before excusing themselves.

 

“Thank you for having us during the wedding sir. Even if it was short notice, we do appreciate all that you could tell us.” Though if she was honest, seeing Mr. Inu like that even for a few moments had scared her to the point that she had wanted to jump out of her skin. Yet, with Naruto’s warning about how he would act well, she couldn’t risk it. As they got up to leave, Naruto couldn’t help but stare at the older man as he let out a soft sigh.

 

“Also sir, if I may suggest something I think you’ll need better guards if you have another attack. Because it seemed they weren’t prepared for this.”

 

“Ah, yes they assumed that since it is my daughter’s wedding that I should be fine. A calm event shouldn’t have triggered me as it did and I deeply apologise.”

 

“Well sir, you know what they say about assuming.”

 

“What is that?”

 

“It makes an ass out of you and me.”

 

“Duly noted.”

 

With his words given, Naruto started to walk away with Hinata in tow. If Hinata was honest, the whole thing had surprised her. Such as the episode, the way Mr. Inu acted and had started to calm down.

 

Though, there was one thing that confused her. If Mr. Inu lost his wife how was he…? Turning to Naruto, she wondered if he knew, after all he had once lived with the man so maybe he knew? “Naruto, can I ask you something?” asked Hinata.

 

“Sure.”

 

“If Mr. Inu lost his wife then how is he… well… still around? Don’t mates normally join each other in death?” Hinata frowned a little.

 

Naruto stopped in his tracks. His expression was rather blank, his eyes shining with a kind of pain that she knew wasn’t for himself, but for the man in question. He took a deep breath as he whispered “What do you know about mates Hinata?” asked Naruto.

 

“That they love each other enough to join the other in death. That the pain of losing their other half is too much to bare and that they join them.” Hinata explained.

 

“Right, but what if you had something, a part of them left in the world that you felt like you still needed to be with. To protect no matter the cost?” Naruto whispered.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“A demon has many abilities right?” He asked, seeing her nod in understanding, Naruto turned his attention to ahead of him, making Hinata curious as to what it was that he was seeing in his own mind. “If a demon loves their mate enough, enough to just to _live_  for something else, like in Mr. Inu’s case, his daughter than he will. But, that had a horrible effect on his mind.” Did he mean about how… “Whenever he thinks of violence, such as when you suggested it on Asuma being the one attacked it triggered him to the point that he could have attacked you. Even now, he still sees the blood of his mate staining his claws.”

 

“What?! He didn’t really kill her did he?!” asked Hinata in shock, though when she saw Naruto shake his head it only served to confuse her all the more. “Then how was her blood…”

 

“She was still pregnant. They were on their way to some show or something. Mr. Inu, at the time was a known warrior and could easily defend himself and his wife without any trouble or issue. Yet, they were easily surrounded to the point that it had taken everything in him to keep himself alive but, one of the attackers had some kind of gun that was imbued with sacred energy.” That made Hinata freeze a moment. Did that mean that they shot at a pregnant woman? No matter if she was a demon or not, it was just _wrong_  to do in the first place. “In a last ditch effort to save a part of his wife, he had to cut her open with his claws to save his daughter. Even now it still haunts him Hinata, I’ve heard him wake up from nightmares when I lived there and it wasn’t easy to deal with.”

 

“So, demons lose their sanity when they lose their mates?”

 

“Not always, but it’s rare. It depends on certain situations, and the demon has to have a strong enough will to overcome it but it is hard I will tell you that much.” Taking a deep breath, Naruto whispered “It’s why I fear him in a way. I never know if he’ll attack me or not. Sometimes the trigger itself can be something small as a simple pat on the back or a sneeze. I know it isn’t his fault but it happens, the only thing that would ever calm him down was his daughter. With her being the last thing of his wife and all, when she wasn’t around to calm him down I feared that he’d go feral.”

 

“Feral?”

 

“It’s a term demons created long ago. Demons who survived their mates deaths, but aren’t able to live on tend to lose everything they once were. Their mind, their memories, just wanting to hide from all the pain by turning to their most basic instincts. Doing so, makes them as nothing but a mindless killing machine that can only be shot down for they cannot be saved as they are far too gone.” Naruto explained.

 

“Naruto…”

 

“It’s something that all demons fear. They don’t want to lose their mates, but there are others that do not want to find their mates in fear of that happening to them. It’s rare though now for it to happen but the fear lingers in our hearts.” Naruto whispered before taking a deep breath, turning to Hinata as he saw her eyes going glassy with unshed tears. Frowning a little, he said “I didn’t mean to make you cry princess.”

 

“I’m not crying.”

 

“You are.”

 

“No I’m not!”

 

Naruto just shook his head as he started to walk on ahead, Hinata of course saw that his words were true. He was afraid of that happening to him, even though he didn’t indicate himself being afraid of it but knew that he himself was afraid to have a mate in the fear of that happening to him. Was that why he pushed people away or was it only one reason out of many? Maybe she’d never know though, it wasn’t like it was any of her business in the first place either.

 

Sighing softly, the young woman started to follow the silent Fox Demon.

 

* * *

 

 

The drive to the Rain Forest District was quiet, and very uneventful. It seemed that since Naruto had spoken about what a demon can go through after the loss of their mate. Well, she really had no words for it. What could she say to anything like that? Sure, what he had said had upset her, never knowing that a demon had gone through something like that. Though, maybe it should have clicked into her head. After all, she had heard stories about demon’s going berserk for what seemed to be no reason.

 

Though, what had him so quiet in the first place?

 

Was it because he himself feared it happening to him like it has to others in the past. To Mr. Inu for that matter. The whole thing must have scared Naruto and he had a right to be. It even frightened her, though she wasn’t sure if her healing had all that much of an effect on the older man other than it calming him down enough to fight back the urges to attack.

 

It had her rather curious as to what was going on in his head right now. What could there be that was going on in his mind at this moment? It was all so puzzling, and she wanted to know what it was that was going on in his head. But, what could she do in the first place? After all, not like mind reading was a power that other priestesses had. Though, it would be nice to have if she had to admit, then she’d know a demon’s true intention should they have any kind of evil plans against humans.

 

Looking up, the young woman saw that it was starting to rain. Not like it ever really stopped in the first place. At least from what she had been told during tests back at the academy. It was one of the things that they had to learn to endure should the time came that they had to chase a criminal. Otherwise, the only time it wouldn’t rain would be if the machines that produced the rain malfunctioned and needed repairs so they’d have no rain for maybe a couple days at least, depending on how long, and how many of the machines were broken.

 

Lowering her gaze for a moment, the young woman couldn’t help but wonder what it was that they would find here. There had to be something that they would find here. What would Asuma had said to this ‘Iruka’ guy in the first place? Ugh, so many things were swimming around in her mind that she wasn’t sure if she would even get an answer out of anyone in the first place.

 

Lifting her gaze, she saw that they had reached the edge of the block. Sadly, they would have to walk from here. Though, now that she thought about it, it wasn’t like anyone was going to try something like this in the first place.

 

“Okay, we’ll have to walk from here so I hope you don’t mind getting… wet?” Hinata said as she started to turn her head, hoping to get some kind of answer out of Naruto though what she saw made her pause. It seemed as if he was in deep thought about something. He just sat there, his blue eyes unfocused but clouded in deep thought. His elbow resting on the side of the car and his chin resting on his open palm. What was going on in his thoughts right now? What was he even thinking about? “Naruto?” Hinata called out, slowly reaching over to get his attention only to gasp as his free hand quickly grabbed her wrist.

 

His grip wasn’t tight, not meant to hurt her but more as a warning as he gave her a small squeeze. “I’m fine, just thinking. Don’t touch me though while I’m in deep thought. I sometimes retaliate.” With that, he got out of the car and started to walk on ahead. Okay, she had to admit, that was rather odd though she couldn’t help but wonder what it was that had happened. “Let’s go alright? The sooner we see Iruka, the quicker we can leave.”

 

Frowning a little, what was wrong with him to have him act like this?

 

Chasing after him, Hinata asked “Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine. I just want to get out of here as soon as possible.” He said quickly, his hands trembling at his sides. Did this place make him nervous or was it something else? Turning her gaze away for a brief moment, Hinata looked up as she tried to think on what it was that could have him act like this. Was it the forest? The idea of seeing one of Mr. Inu’s men while he wasn’t on duty or was it something more to it than that?

 

“Naruto, I know we aren’t friends or anything like that but, if something is troubling you, you know you can talk to me right? I won’t tell anyone what you’ve told me but, keeping your emotions bottled up won’t help you.” Hinata said softly, she knew that none of this was her business but, if she could help him a little bit then she’d know that it would make him feel better and she wouldn’t have to worry so much.

 

“Look, long story short Iruka was a friend of mine. Someone I looked up too and in a way my teacher. That’s all I’ll tell you.” Naruto said with the smallest of snarls. Whatever happened between the two must have been bad for him to say it like that. Did they have some kind of falling out or was there more to it than that?

 

“Did you two date?” asked Hinata before she could stop the words.

 

Naruto almost fell over from her question it seemed. He stared at her with wide eyes and quickly shook his head. His skin seemed to have gone pale at the mere thought of dating Iruka so, what? Either that meant that Naruto wasn’t into guys like that or he was some kind of homophobe or something along those lines. “What!?” shouted Naruto, only to quickly shake his head again. “No! Iruka was a friend, like an older brother to me after I…” Naruto froze for a second before shaking his head. “We never dated,” He whispered taking a deep breath. “I saw him as an older brother figure, nothing more. We had a bit of an argument before I left Mr. Inu’s home and that was that.”

 

Oh, so that was why he didn’t want to come here or, at the very least wanted to avoid Iruka because of well, whatever the fight had been about. But, she knew that at some point Naruto would have to make amends with his past in order to move on and maybe, he’d be happier and do something better in his life.

 

“Naruto,” Hinata began, causing the blonde to look at her. “You need to confront him at some point. This may be a good chance for you to do so. Let’s get this done with okay? This is after all the only time that you can talk to him and hopefully get some kind of closure with him.”

 

Naruto looked away, as if he was afraid to even think about talking to Iruka again. Though, the look on his face, some kind of odd clearing started to appear in his eyes. Was he starting to see the reason behind her thoughts? It would make sense, though she just hoped that he would still take her words to heart. That seeing Iruka, would be the only thing that would get him to move on from whatever it was. Then of course, maybe allow him to be happy for a change.

 

“I’ll talk to him. But, that’s all I can promise Hinata. Whatever happens otherwise, well I can’t be sure what will happen.”

 

“Just try not to fight him okay? He is most likely the last person to have seen Asuma.” Hinata said with a frown on her face.

 

“Alright, I won’t fight him. Unless he attacks me first.” Naruto said with a smirk.

 

“Will he though?”

 

“No, Iruka only attacks if in self-defence. That’s how he is.”

 

“Alright, let’s get going shall we?” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

Though as she walked on ahead, Hinata had missed the confused look on the fox demon’s face. Not really sure what it was but in a way she reminded him of someone. He just had to think about who it was that she reminded him of. There were so many people he had known in his life, after all he knew everyone and, in a sense could read everyone to a certain point. Letting out a soft sigh, he dug his hands into his pockets and started to follow the blue haired woman toward Iruka’s home.

 

If there was anything that he wanted, it was to avoid this place at all costs. But, maybe it was fate that was telling him to do this. To talk to someone, his brother figure really, so he could move on with his life. Well, moving on with a part of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, here we are. Sorry it took so long to update this but I got into an anime and have been reading a bunch of fanfics based off of it. Plus, was too lazy to get my flashdrive to finish. Anyway, yes Iruka will appear in this story and I have noticed/remembered that I never placed in what it was that Kabuto stole in a older chapter so I'll try to mention it what it was in the next chapter. Also, there will be a feel train next chapter if I deem it worthy, if not it'll be another chapter. anyway, later!


	13. Chase and Naruto's One Secret

Hinata looked up at the house and to be honest, she thought it would have looked a little different compared to what it was. The house was built into a trunk of a tree. No, more like it _was_  the tree itself. That itself had surprised her to a certain part. There were windows along the trunk, indicating that there was two floors and that wasn’t including the small window just by the base of the tree to indicate a basement. What kind of man was Iruka in the first place?

 

Turning to look up at Naruto, she saw that he looked nervous about it. Frowning a little, the young woman calmly said “Just relax Naruto, I’m sure nothing will happen here.”

 

Naruto turned to stare at her for a moment before letting out a sigh and raised his hand, his knuckle banging on the wooden door. Even though Hinata saw that Naruto had a calm expression, his eyes was a dead giveaway. No, more like the aura itself was a dead giveaway. He was nervous, most likely from seeing someone he hadn’t seen in quiet some time. Yet, now that she noticed it, he was gripping… a necklace? Odd, she’s never noticed that before.

 

It seemed to glow, (at least to her eyes anyway) with a weird energy. It wasn’t a calming energy so he wasn’t holding it to calm himself down but there was more to it than that. But what could it be? She’s never seen that kind of energy before, it was a little different from transformation energy but there was something else but what could it be?

 

Soon, the door opened a crack, causing Hinata to look up and couldn’t help but stare at a tall tanned man. She could faintly make out locks of brown hair coming loose from a ponytail and confused black eyes looking at her. Only for those eyes to slowly turn to her left and blink in shock and confusion. “Naruto?” He said, his voice matching his expression. It seemed that Iruka wasn’t expecting to see Naruto here after all. Then again makes sense since Naruto had mentioned that they had a big argument before they stopped talking all together.

 

“Hey Iruka.” Naruto whispered before he averted his gaze. Yup, this was going to be hard to get any kind of information out of him.

 

Soon, his gaze fell back on Hinata’s as he asked “Look, whatever he’s done it isn’t any of my concern. He’s made that plenty clear to me years ago so if you’ll excuse me-“

 

“It isn’t anything like that I swear!” shouted Hinata, causing Iruka to frown in confusion. “Look, I don’t know what happened in the past, and I know that it isn’t any of my business but please. We both need to talk to you. I’m on a case and Naruto is helping me.”

 

“By black mail.”

 

“Still helping me Naruto.”

 

Iruka frowned a little as he turned back to the blonde/crimson haired man next to the tiny human woman. “Naruto…”

 

“I’m sorry Iruka. I was mad okay? I was mad, stupid and I took it all out on you when you’ve done nothing but look out for me the moment I started to live at the manor with Mr. Inu. It was wrong of me and… fuck I’m just sorry okay?” Naruto said with a sigh, running his hand through his crimson ponytail.

 

Iruka seemed rather passive for a moment before a small smile started to form at his lips. “That’s all I wanted to hear Naruto. Now, how can I help you?” The brown haired man said with a faintest of smiles.

 

“We’re on the case of Asuma Sarutobi. We were told that you were the last one to see him, what happened to you and to Asuma?” Hinata said with a frown on her face, yet a show of concern.

 

“It was a simple drive really. To be honest, it just seemed like any other task for me. Pick up a client, no matter if they were the friend of just a normal client for the boss and drive them to their destination.” Iruka said with a soft sigh. “I knew something was troubling Asuma though, there was just the expression on his face that I could make out in my mirror.” So Asuma was really worried about something, though what could it be in the first place?

 

“What happened after?” asked Hinata.

 

“Hm, oh right. Asuma had been talking about robberies and Night howlers. Just kept on going on and on about Night howlers and the like. I don’t really understand what it was that had him so concerned about Night Howlers but it still didn’t sit well with Asuma for some reason.” Iruka said with a frown, only for his gaze to darken. What had happened in that moment to have made Iruka change like that in appearance? “There was no warning, I heard him yelp or something and I looked up at my mirror, wanting to make sure that he was okay and well… he was different in moments.”

 

“What do you mean?” asked Hinata with a frown.

 

“He started walking around on all fours, his claws ripping up the seat and floor. It almost seemed as if he had reverted back into something. I know he didn’t become like Mr. Inu, because even he can still talk like a normal man. Asuma, he just… it was almost like he had gone feral but worse.” Hearing that Hinata saw Naruto flinch at that. God did the idea of going feral really scare him more than he let on? “What is worse than being feral?” asked Hinata.

 

“When you’re feral, you still have some part of your old self. Still capable of speech even if it is only about killing and the like. It was as if Asuma had… turned into some kind of savage. Because when I had turned my head to look at him that was when Asuma attacked me.” Opening the door a bit more, Hinata saw the single slash across the bridge of Iruka’s nose. The injury was still red, not as puffy as it was most likely when he got it but it still looked raw.

 

“He did that to you?” Hinata whispered, writing down everything that she had heard thus far. But there had to be something more to this than what let on. But, what could there be?

 

“Yes, I had to drive to the side of the road as quickly as I could to get out of that situation. I was so scared but I couldn’t even use my powers against him. There was no way that I could hurt Asuma, even if he wasn’t himself he was and still is my friend.” Iruka said with his eyes downcast.

 

Powers? But… Iruka looked like a normal human so what powers could he possess? There was no sacred powers that she could sense so, what could there be in the first place? Hm… he could be a major lead to the case though, if that was the case then she’d have to get him down to the station right away. “Iruka, we’d like to take you down to the station for more questioning. Plus to protect you from any potential danger.”

 

“Yes, of course. Just give me a moment and I’ll go and gather my things.” Iruka said with a small smile before he closed the door and the sound of a chain being moved was heard. But what both Hinata and Naruto heard after that caused them alarm. As Iruka gasped out in some kind of shock and pain.

 

“Iruka?” Naruto called out before he took a tentative step forward and slowly pushed the door open. Hinata frowned a bit as she saw Iruka convulsing on the floor, rolling around as if he was in a great deal of pain. Suddenly, Hinata saw Naruto shiver from the corner of her eye as he whispered “Something’s not right here, I think we’re in danger princess.”

 

“Um… Iruka?” Hinata called out, only to see the man in question to whip his head around and snarled at the two. His eyes glowing, as was his body now glowing in power. From the looks of it, his body was starting to glow… white?

 

“Shit! Get down!” Shouted Naruto as he tackled Hinata away from the doorway and to the wet slippery ground. Not a moment too soon, for there were shards of ice shooting out from the ground. “Run!” Shouted the fox as he grabbed a hold of Hinata’s hand and started to run with her.

 

“What the hell is he?!” asked Hinata.

 

“He’s an elemental demon. Iruka doesn’t like to really fight, he’s a pacifist. He only really fights if he needs too or if he’s training someone who has an element that they can’t control very well. He’s one of the reasons why I stayed with Mr. Inu as long as I did. I had no control over wind and fire so I had no choice but we got along like brothers. Anyway, just keep running!”

 

Good thing as well, for Iruka was running after them, nothing but snarls and growls coming from the man. It almost seemed as if he was some kind of animal instead of an elemental. They had to keep running, Naruto looked over his head and saw that Iruka was still glowing white, as were his eyes. “He’s gonna keep using ice it seems. Good thing for me.” He shot out fire from his free hand, hoping it would slow down the raging Iruka.

 

“How do you know this?” Hinata asked with a frown, trying to keep running.

 

“His eyes and aura change colour depending on the element that he’ll be using. The moment it changes we’ll know what element he’ll use. Either way he’s still powerful, so we still have to be careful.” Naruto explained. God that still shocked her, normally those who control elements reflected that in their appearance, so why wasn’t Iruka like that? He just looked like any other human but this? This was so out there!

 

“Shit! He’s using water!” Naruto cursed, lifting his palm skyward as gusts of wind shot out, hoping to slow him down.

 

“Quick down here!” shouted Hinata as she ducked down in a log, just big enough for them to crawl through. Pulling out walkie-talkie, the young woman said “Choji, come in Choji!”

 

_”Choji here.”_

 

“We have a demon on the loose, going rampage. Most likely savage right now. Please send back up to my location, I’m making my way to the travel cars platform at the north east entrance.” Hinata said, hoping that Choji heard all of this. So long as she kept her walkie-talkie they should be able to locate her without any kind of issue. Though, she just hoped that it would be enough to keep both herself and Naruto alive.

 

_”Roger that Hinata, just keep this open in case you need to update the situation.”_

 

“At least help is coming.” Naruto said.

 

“Though because it’s me they may not come very quickly.” Hinata grumbled, only to yelp as Iruka’s hand shot through the bark of the log.

 

“Fuck.” Naruto cursed as he said “Hold on, I think we’re near a road from here.” What did he mean by that? Naruto quickly grabbed a hold of Hinata’s wrist and slammed his fist into the bark under them, causing them both to fall though, thankfully not very far as they landed on the dirt road. “Thank god, let’s go!” Shouted Naruto as he dragged Hinata further down the path.

 

“How much of this place do you know by hand?” asked Hinata.

 

“Pretty well, I know this place like the back of my hand.” Naruto said with a smirk growing on his face. Hinata rolled her eyes at that before getting him to let go so she could run and not be dragged behind him. Turning her head for a moment, she saw that Iruka had managed to, for the most part, catch up and his aura and eyes started to glow yellow. For some reason, she didn’t like the idea of that.

 

“Um… Naruto? With Iruka what does yellow mean?”

 

“Thunder why?”

 

“Then we’re in trouble.”

 

“Fucking shit!” shouted Naruto as he quickened up his pace. “Keep running, don’t stay in a straight line, that’s how he gets you!” shouted Naruto.

 

Nodding her head, Hinata made sure to do a little zig zag here and there, not wanting to be hit. If Iruka was really ‘savage’ so to speak, then there was no holding back for him. He could easily kill herself and Naruto in most likely a single hit.

 

“Look out!” Naruto shouted, shoving Hinata aside as he saw that Iruka had changed to wind, shooting out blades so to speak, and hit Naruto. Thankfully, not enough to seriously hurt him thanks to his own control over wind but he had a small cut at his neck and arm. “Fuck.” Naruto held out both of his hands as he forced a tornado to strike at Iruka, not enough to hurt the man but enough to stall for time. “Let’s go!”

 

Hinata nodded her head and ran, they were making great time that was for sure. She could see the lift in their sights. Oh god, she couldn’t believe it, they were gonna make the lift! “We’re almost there princess!” Naruto said with a grin on his face.

 

“Thank god.” Hinata said with a sigh of relief.

 

Making their way to the platform, Naruto rushed to the cart as it started to get to the ‘station’ so to speak as he said “Hurry up Hinata, there is no telling how much time we have until Iruka catches up with us. God, that sounds so weird now.”

 

Hinata looked around, she thought then as she turned her head there Iruka was. He rushed at her, his hands sparking with electricity a sign that he had gone back to thunder. Making a break for it, she heard his foot falls coming faster and heavier, he was rushing at her now. Damn it! Looking up she saw the pole and quickly jumped for it and spun landing behind Iruka only to slide on the slippery wood. “Ah!” Hinata shouted before falling off the platform, though managed to grab the railing.

 

“Get in Prin- Princess?” Naruto said, looking around only to stare with wide eyes as he saw Hinata hanging onto the railing and Iruka stalking towards him now. Slowly, menacing like a predator hunting its prey.

 

“Go Naruto! Save yourself!” shouted Hinata.

 

“But…” Naruto said, his eyes wide in shock, it seemed that he didn’t want to leave her with Iruka like this. No, with Iruka as he was now, he was a danger to anyone around him. Damn it. “I can’t just leave you here princess.” Naruto said before turning his gaze back to Iruka with his hands up. “Now, now Iruka. We’re both demons here and I’m sure that there is a code, more so with us right? Heh…”

 

Iruka didn’t seem to be listening to him in the slightest. For he just kept stalking to him, one eye remained yellow, while the other was white. Shit, he was going to freeze Naruto then use the force of thunder to shatter him! Fuck!

 

Hinata having spotted Iruka stalking toward the fox knew that she had to do something before it was too late for the man. Pulling herself back up, Hinata carefully made her way over to the two demons, not wanting to make any kind of sudden sound that would alert the savage of her presents behind him. God, this was so weird, was ‘savage’ going to be an actual term now?

 

Hinata pulled out her cuffs and not a moment too soon. For just as she wrapped the cuff around Iruka’s ankle, the man had made a jump so he could attack Naruto. “Thank god.” Hinata whispered.

 

Naruto let out a deep breath, taking advantage of Iruka’s daze as he slowly started to move away. “I’ll just… leave now!” Though Iruka snarled and went to attack Naruto, the blonde/crimson haired man yelped in shock and his foot slipped on the wooden floor. Causing him to bump into Hinata and both hit the wooden railing causing it to break from their combined weight and fall.

 

Both screaming from shock and fear, Hinata grabbed a hold of the nearby vine and swung back and forth. Naruto, of course had managed to grab a hold of Hinata’s hand though thanks to the rain the grip was starting to slip. “Princess, do not let go of that vine.” Naruto said, he had a chance of surviving the fall, she wouldn’t.

 

“I’m gonna let go!” shouted Hinata.

 

“Wait what?! No don’t!” shouted Naruto.

 

Just like that, Hinata released her grip of the vine, causing both to scream as they plummeted down to the ground below. Both screamed, Hinata though seeing something at the corner of her eye let out an ‘ah ha!’ and grabbing onto the vine to slow down their decent. Naruto let out a yelp of shock and pain, though for now Hinata ignored it as she told him to hold onto her, which of course he did. Holding onto the vine, their fall did slow down as they soon found themselves landing on… more vines? Huh… odd.

 

“Thank god.” Hinata whispered before letting go and just sitting back on the bed of vines. Naruto let out a deep breath, as if to calm down his rapidly beating heart though he didn’t seem angry. “I had a plan the… whole… time…” Hinata had turned to stare at Naruto, only for her eyes to widen in shock.

 

Naruto was there, no doubt about that but what she saw of him was what surprised her. Now it all made sense to her, why he had so much power for a ‘one’ tailed fox. He didn’t have one.

 

Sitting there on the vine bed, was indeed Naruto, holding onto the string of his necklace that must have broken from the fall. Hence his scream but now either laying behind him, or next to him swaying gently, no, nervously were nine red fox tails. “Naruto you’re a… nine tailed fox?”

 

“I… I uh…” Naruto couldn’t seem to speak, his face had lost all colour and was covered in fear. His breathing started to pick up as if he was about to have a panic attack. Hinata herself, almost felt like she was about to panic for she soon found herself holding onto her scarred cheek. How was it that the whole time that she was with him that she hadn’t noticed? “Princess?” Naruto said nervously, his words sounded rather soft and… frightened like a child would be.

 

Shaking her head, Hinata saw that the poor man was more terrified than her. What was so bad about him having nine tails that would frighten _him_  of all people? She had no idea. “Naruto, calm down okay? Just breathe, right now you’re safe okay? I softened our fall.”

 

“R-Right… you saved me.” Naruto said, trying to calm down.

 

“That’s what we do.” Hinata said with a gentle smile, though her hand had found its way back to her cheek once more. God she hated that habit of hers.

 

Though before more could be said, Hinata, and Naruto both screamed as the vines under them gave out, causing them to fall. Yet, not to their death as it seemed the vines had managed to wrap themselves around the duo and hung them suspended over the ground, upside down. “How can this get any worse?” asked Naruto.

 

The sound of sirens and flashing lights came, causing Hinata to squint their eyes as she saw a dozen, or so cop cars arrive at their destination. “It just got worse I think.” Hinata said when she saw the angry look on Kakashi’s face.


	14. Naruto's Past

Kakashi had managed to cut Naruto and Hinata free of their confines as Hinata started to explain everything on their way back to where they had left Iruka. Naruto though, stayed a bit behind, not wanting to be in anyone’s way though that was mostly due to the fact that he now had nine swaying tails behind him. How he was able to hide such a thing, Hinata had no idea, but she wanted to find out.

 

The fear on his face had matched her own, even if it was only for a brief moment. Taking a deep breath, Hinata calmly said “Sir, we had a lead to Asuma and was talking to a suspect when he… he just went savage on us. Started to attack us with his abilities as if he had no sense of self anymore.”

 

“Savage? Hyuuga, this isn’t the dark ages. I hope you know this, for that is impossible for a demon to just go savage in this day and age.” Hinata turned to him, her eyes wide and a frown marred her face. Did they still have so little faith in her that they couldn’t accept that she may have had some kind of lead only for it to go cold? “Now, where are you taking us?” asked Kakashi with a narrow of his visible eye.

 

“Just where we had Iruka cuffed. I had to do that in order to save Naruto from being attacked.” Hinata answered.

 

“Ah right… the _fox_ that you had tag along.” Why did he have to say fox like that? It didn’t make sense to her.

 

“He did so savage though sir.” Hinata said, hoping that they would believe her, even if it was just a tiny bit, that was all that she wanted from them. Was for them to believe in her, to have their trust in her and her own abilities. Yet, it just seemed like they wouldn’t accept it in the first place.

 

The moment she moved some bushes aside, Hinata couldn’t help but stare with wide eyes. Iruka was gone! Looking around, making a break for it at the platform, the young woman tried to find any kind of source for the brown haired demon but found nothing. “But he was right here!” shouted Hinata, not sure what it was that had happened, but she knew for a fact that Iruka had been here, the feel of his skin as she placed the cuffs on him was too fresh in her mind.

 

“Do you think that this is some kind of game?” came Kakashi’s voice, causing Hinata to look up at him. His glare made her want to shrink in on herself. Oh no, he was glaring at her and that made her think that the worse was about to happen. “Do you really think, that trying to track down a demon, who you promised his mate that you would find him for her? Giving her that false hope just so you can satisfy some kind of ego that you are just as good as any demon cop?” Rubbing his face, Kakashi grumbled “First you caught a man stealing some Midnicampum holicithias seeds and now this? You are nothing but a child playing a game!”

 

HInata flinched at those words. Was that what he really thought about her? That she was only trying to do this for glory? Just to prove herself? Well, if she was honest with herself, she wanted to prove that she was like any other cop but, not for the glory, she had really wanted to help a grieving woman who was looking for her mate.

 

Yet, to still hear such a thing from the chief, made her want to curl up on the spot.

 

Looking up at him, she said “It isn’t like that sir.”

 

“Oh really? I think otherwise Hyuuga.” Kakashi said with a growl. Hinata once more flinched, what was she to say? That everything that she had worked for had somehow gone down the drain? Even though she had gotten so far in such a short amount of time! Yet, no matter what it just felt like she wouldn’t be able to do anything to prove that she was right about something when they couldn’t solve this in two weeks. “I have given you two days to solve this case and you came up with nothing.”

 

“Not true sir! I found a bit. Had a lead and I followed through with it, I know we can solve this case!” Hinata said, hoping that he would listen to her. Turning to Naruto, she said “Tell them Naruto! You know we were so close!”

 

Naruto stepped out from the shadows, his tails swaying slightly though he looked a little uncomfortable. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, Kakashi cut him off. “As if I’ll listen to a fox, let alone a nine tailed one. He can’t be trusted, just like the rest of his kind.” Hinata saw Naruto flinch a little from those words. Was that why he hid his tails? Because people didn’t trust him for it? “Now, hand over your badge Hyuuga.”

 

Hinata just stared up at him in shock. What? He wanted her to give up her badge? “But sir there-“

 

“Badge!” Demanded Kakashi, holding out his hand as he glared down at her. His fingers curling once, twice, no thrice as he was pretty much demanding her with actions alone for her to hand over her badge. Even though she had a good lead, yet it seemed that it wasn’t good enough for the older man that stood before her.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman reached up with a sad look to her eyes. Flashes of her life, of her dream passed over in her minds eye as she could see the happy look on her younger face. The desire she had to be a police officer so she could help those who needed help. Who needed to be saved. Yet now? Here she was, removing the symbol of her dream because of an agreement that she made. A stupid one.

 

“No.” said a voice, causing Hinata and Kakashi to turn their heads over in shock as they stared at Naruto.

 

“What was that?” asked Kakashi.

 

“I’m sorry, but did I stutter? I said ‘no’ she will not be handing over her badge.” Naruto growled out softly.

 

Naruto had a defiant look to him as he dug his hands in his pockets. A glare marring his face. “Listen here wolf breath. You gave her a time limit, a short one at that to solve a case.” Naruto started to explain, Kakashi just staring at him with a glare. “You wanted her to solve a case in two days, when you couldn’t solve it in two weeks?” Naruto went on, his glare remaining the same before pulling his hands from his pockets to his chest. “No wonder she needed a helping hand from a fox demon, none of you guys were gonna help her were you? Why? Because she’s human? Are you all so damn biased on that?”

 

Kakashi opened his mouth to respond, yet the blonde/crimson haired man held up his own hand to shut the man up. “No, you weren’t. You were so dead set on her failing, I can sense that much from you. Why? Is it because you had experienced something like this before?” The glare and flinch said everything to Hinata. So, Kakashi had dealt with something like this once before and hadn’t wanted something else like this to happen again.

 

“And all of you!” Naruto shouted, turning his glare, no, more like his now glowing glare onto the other demons. They all flinched at the crimson glow of Naruto’s eyes as his pupils retracted into slits. “All of you should be ashamed, you’re all on the same side damn it! Working hard together just so you can protect those who need protecting and yet you’re trying to hard to take _one_  woman down just because you don’t like her? Because you don’t like the idea of a human working as a cop? Well you know what I have to say to that? Fuck you!”

 

Everyone stared in shock at Naruto’s words. “Now, if I recall, you had given her forty-eight hours, and if I’m doing my math right, that gives us about ten left to find Asuma. Now, we have a lead and a case to crack.” Naruto’s eyes stopped glowing as he made his way over to the cable car that had docked and turned to Hinata. “Coming Princess?”

 

Hinata looked like she wanted to say anything but couldn’t muster up any of those words. Instead, Hinata held her words back and turned toward the cable car and looked at Naruto who had a calm look to him. No, more like hidden anger on his face. It was hard to believe that this was the same man that she had to blackmail to help her and yet he just stuck his neck out there to help her.

 

“After you Princess.” Naruto said softly before Hinata got on and he followed suit. After that, they were off, leaving confused officers behind in their wake.

 

Hinata couldn’t help but gaze at Naruto from the corner of her eye. His arms resting on the railing of the cart as he seemed to stare out at the horizon. What could she say to him? Sure, he stuck up for her when the world was staring down at her now yet, she couldn’t help but wonder if he had gone through something similar. His tails swaying behind him though, Hinata for a brief felt his tail against her leg though it didn’t linger long.

 

“Naruto?” Hinata whispered softly, wondering if he would even talk to her about what had happened down there. Or if he would even speak at all for that matter.

 

“You should never let them see that they get to you.” He whispered softly, causing Hinata to stare with wide yet confused eyes. “That’s my way of life, so long as they know that they didn’t get to you, they can’t hurt you more.” Is that how he’s lived his life? But why would anyone think it was best to keep their emotions bottled up like this? It just didn’t make sense though then again it wasn’t like she had lived his life or even seen how he had grown up.

 

“What makes you say that though Naruto?” asked Hinata with a frown.

 

Turning to stare at her for a moment, only to turn his gaze down at the necklace that now resided in his hand. “I was like you once. Rather emotional, cried over everything and wanted to help so many people in my life.” Naruto said, his lips turning upward into a ghost of a smile at the memory. Yet, it only served to confuse Hinata all the more, he had wanted to protect people once so what had changed his point of view?

 

“Um… what… what happened Naruto?” asked Hinata.

 

Turning to Hinata for a brief moment only to look away. “I was maybe… five? No, maybe I was six years old. I had a dream to be a part of the ranger scouts.” Naruto chuckled softly at the memory only for it to fade away rather quickly. “My parents didn’t have much money so we couldn’t do much, yet… they managed to scrape what money we could use and bought me a uniform for the scouts.” Hinata couldn’t help but frown a little, if it had been his dream shouldn’t he have been happy about it in the first place?

 

He took a deep breath as he gazed up at the sky. “Yet, even though I was going to be the only demon in the trope I thought I’d be happy. To finally be accepted, to be part of a pack even though I was a nine tailed fox.” Naruto tightened his hand into a fist, Hinata saw his eyes flashing a deep crimson for a moment before he took a few deep breaths hoping to calm himself. “I was giving my vow, vow of being helpful, to protect those in need and to always have people smile but then… they turned on me.”

 

Hinata looked like she wanted to ask him what happened after that but she couldn’t bring herself to do so. “They had me pinned to the ground, applying sutras on my body. I knew they were blessed because they burned my skin. I screamed and cried for them to stop. Pleading for them to stop it all and yet they just… they… they just _laughed_  at me. Saying that they couldn’t trust a fox, but with me having nine tails. I have more power than most children my age, or any other child my age.”

 

Hinata frowned a little, wanting to reach out and comfort him but couldn’t be sure if he would even allow her to do so. “I begged and pleaded for them to stop but they wouldn’t. I slammed my tails on the ground and blew them away without hurting them before I ran off. I ran, ran and ran until I couldn’t run anymore. Cried my eyes out until I couldn’t even talk anymore.”

 

How could anyone treat a child like that? Let alone a demon child? It almost broke Hinata’s heart, and it made her want to go back and attack those kids. No, take away those sutras and make sure that they never do anything like that to another child ever again. “Naruto…” Hinata whispered softly.

 

“I learned two things that day. That I can only really ever trust myself.”

 

“And the other?”

 

“That if the world is only going to see me as a shady and untrustworthy fox, then so be it.”

 

“Naruto, you shouldn’t live your life like this. Living your life like this will only hurt you more and more as time goes on. To let no one see you in pain or to allow anyone to trust is painful to you. What if you were ever in danger and couldn’t fight your way out of it?” Hinata said with a frown.

 

“I’m powerful Princess, I don’t need protecting.” He said with a small smirk.

 

“Yet I saved you when we were free falling.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“True, point taken.”

 

“Though, thank you for sharing that with me.” Hinata said, placing a hand on Naruto’s as both of his arms were draped over the railing. “I know it was hard for you to share something like that with me.”

 

Naruto coughed a little, trying to clear his throat as he felt the blush creeping into his cheeks. “Uh… hey look at all those cameras!” Placing a hand to his ear he was like “Hey Kurama how is it down there with the jam cams!”

 

“Naruto, really I was happy that you shared that…”

 

“The jam cams.”

 

“Really, it meant a lot to me.”

 

“No, princess, there are jam cams everywhere!” Naruto said, pointing out all the cameras that were surrounding them. Hinata understood what it was that he was talking about. Yes, that was what they had to do. Grinning wildly, he said “We may have another clue.”

 

“Yeah, now we just have to get to those cameras!” Hinata said with a giggle.

 

“However, I don’t think if Wolf Breath didn’t allow you to use the police system for your investigation before I don’t think he’ll let you now.”

 

Hinata frowned a little in deep thought until a smile crept up on her face. “I have a friend at City Hall that will help us.”

 

Naruto frowned a little at that. How was Hinata sure that they even had a friend down there that could help with them. “Naruto?” He turned his head to stare at her with a frown on his face, though this time just a frown of confusion. “How were you able to hide your tails all this time?”

 

“I used this.” Naruto held up his necklace, string still broken as he stared at it. A soft sigh escaped him for a moment. “My godfather gave it to me hoping it would give me courage to live my life. Yet, it hadn’t given my any kind of courage in the first place. But, after that incident, I decided to try my illusion powers on the necklace, I needed something to channel the power to hide my nine tails to make me look like a one tailed fox demon.”

 

“How long did that take you?” asked Hinata.

 

“Few years I believe. Had to start small, just removed one tail at a time until I looked like a real one tail. It took a long time but it was still worth it in order to fit in.” Naruto said with a soft sigh as he shoved the necklace in his pocket. “I’ll have to get another string in order to fix this. I don’t have anything else to hide my tails.”

 

“Why hide them at all?” asked Hinata.

 

“You know why.” Naruto said softly.

 

“But why hide yourself? You have powers, and abilities that you could use to help people. You can use illusions to that extent, I’ve never heard of anyone else using that ability like that before.” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

He turned to stare at her for a moment before tilting his head. Hinata frowned a little at that, wondering why he was staring at her like that. “I’ll answer your question if you’ll answer mine. What happened to your face there? I’ve noticed those scars but… never asked you.”

 

Hinata stared with wide eyes before turning away and placing a hand over her scars. “I was attacked by a demon as a child. I was trying to save some friends from a bully and in retaliation he scratched me as a ‘friendly reminder’ that I’m nothing but a little human mudball of a girl.” She wanted to cry at those words but kept her tears at bay.

 

“I don’t think that.” Naruto calmly mumbled, causing her to look up in shock. “Come on Princess, you took on a case to save people, you are helping people and well… you did save a demon did you not?”

 

“I did.”

 

“Then you have nothing to worry about. Look, there’s City Hall. Let’s go shall we?”

 

Hinata just smiled happily before a happy smile broke out on her face. Yeah, they had a case to solve and she would be seen as a true cop.


	15. The Secret Hospital

Hinata and Naruto didn’t know if they would even get that far here. When Hinata had asked Obito if he could help them use the cameras to get any idea on how to find Iruka, well the raven haired man was more than happy to help. The trio found themselves in the records room, Obito humming softly as he typed away at the computer as he started to punch in passwords and going to the cameras to the location in question.

 

“Are you sure that you won’t get in trouble though Obito?” asked Hinata with a frown on her face.

 

“Of course, I’m more than happy to help. After all, I would love to help out in this case and help out a fellow human.” Obito said with a smile on his face.

 

Naruto let out a grunt before rolling his eyes. Hinata of course noticed and slapped his shoulder. The fox just frowned a little at the woman before letting out a soft sigh.

 

“Okay, just need to punch in a few more passwords and codes and you should be where you need to be. I hope it helps you on your case.” Obito said with a smile before he let out a soft chuckle. Hinata just smiled at the man before she looked at the screen. He did almost look a little confused, sure she knew that Obito wanted to help and she was grateful for it. But what really confused her was why Naruto was giving Obito the cold shoulder. It was almost as if he was not the trusting sort, more so than usual.

 

Hinata tilted her head at Naruto as she asked “Are you okay Naruto?”

 

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me.” Naruto answered.

 

“Okay.” Hinata said with a sigh. Even though they had such a tender moment before coming to the city hall, it had seemed to change the moment Naruto laid eyes on Obito. Why that was, she had no idea, but she felt like there had to be a reason for it. When they were alone, she’d know that she would have to ask him. Though, for now that moment wasn’t going to come up any time soon.

 

 _”Obito!”_  shouted a voice over a little desk speaker. Hinata and Naruto looked down and blinked when they saw that Obito let out a soft sigh.

 

“Yes sir?” He said as he pressed the button.

 

_”Where are those papers? I need them on my desk now!”_

 

“I thought you didn’t need them anymore sir.”

 

 _”Change of plans, bring them to my office ASAP!”_  shouted Madara before the speaker went dead.

 

“Well, I’m in the cameras for you guys. Just do as you like so long as you log out, I’ll see you later Hinata.” Obito winked at the blue haired woman, causing her to blush a little before she watched him run out of the room in what would be assumed to be rather fast for a human.

 

“I don’t trust him.” Naruto whispered softly.

 

“Why?” Hinata asked as she sat down and went to work.

 

“I can sense negative emotions in someone, it’s hard for me sometimes when I block it out but even while blocking a great deal of it, I could sense it from him.” Naruto whispered before he turned his gaze back to her. “When I stopped blocking it, he seemed to have a lot of negative emotions hidden deep in his heart. I don’t know what it was, but it had faded when he looked at you, when he saw I was with you, there was a spark of negativity when we arrived. I think he hates me or something.”

 

“Well, he just met you so that makes sense.” Hinata said with a smile before she went about doing her work. It seemed that she wanted to hurry this up along. After all, they only had so much time left before Kakashi would fire her. God, she hoped and prayed to all that is holy that she would be able to solve this case before it was too late.

 

Though, of all things that she had to depend on, it was that she would have to pray for this. It was the only way for her to survive as a cop. So she wouldn’t have to go home and that was something that she just had to hope that would turn in her favor. “Hey wait, Hinata go back for a moment.” Naruto called out, causing Hinata to blink as she rewinded the footage and blinked. It was the moment she and Naruto had fallen off of the bridge. There was Iruka, screaming, trying to break free though it seemed that his mind was far too gone for him to think clearly as he didn’t think to have used his elemental powers to break free.

 

“That’s Iruka alright…” Naruto whispered as he leaned closer to Hinata, trying to get a better look at the screen as they watched what played next. A car started to pull up, causing Naruto and Hinata to frown a little as they watched a couple demon’s come out. Hinata couldn’t really make out what they were, most of their features were hidden from her view.

 

“Wolf demons.” Naruto whispered.

 

“How are you so sure?” asked Hinata.

 

“Take a look behind them. You’ll see curled up tails under the coats, normally dogs or wolves have those, but I can make out golden eyes with slits under the hoods. It’s a little hard to make out but it does make sense why you only see golden under their hoods. With dogs, you’ll see amber, but wolves, pure golden eyes.” Naruto whispered softly.

 

Amazing, he knew that much about demons? Hm, Hinata wondered if that was something that all demons knew about, or if Naruto had just his own way of studying them under his own methods. She couldn’t help but tilt her head a little as she went to ask him how it was that he knew when something caught her eye. They were holding out guns, it almost made her think that they were about to shoot Iruka until she saw that the barrel was different.

 

Soon, they shot out at the man, capturing him in a net. “Net gun?” Hinata said in shock.

 

“Very common when it comes to hunters. Though, why would they be after Iruka of all people?” asked Naruto with a frown on his face.

 

“I don’t know, but we need to find out.” Hinata whispered softly.

 

“I hope we do… where did the car go?” Naruto asked with a frown on his face.

 

“Let’s see.” Hinata said with a smile before she typed away at the keys. Hoping to follow the car though it seemed that somehow, it had managed to escape her sights. “Where?”

 

“Hm… try this.” Naruto whispered before he started to type at the keys, the camera went back to the tunnel, and it was then that Hinata saw that there was another road. “I would use this way to get out of sight if I wanted to avoid being seen.” Naruto said with a smile on his face.

 

Hinata just laughed a little. Naruto was really street smart for sure, though she wondered what they would find there. At least, she hoped that would be the case.

 

* * *

 

 

“Are you sure about this?” asked Naruto with a frown.

 

“Yup.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

They had managed to arrive at this secret location. It was just a ways off from the tunnel though to see a building like this? Well, it reminded Hinata of a horror film that she watched as a child. It was on a Cliffside, near the water. One wrong move and you would fall in, though she wondered how it stayed up on the cliff without falling in the water. Did it stand on a good solid ground or was it something else?

 

The road was rather curved, making one think that if you were careful, no, even if you were careful you’d fall in. It was best to make their way up by foot. “Careful, I see some wolves up ahead.” Naruto whispered, man she forgot that demon’s had better sight than humans.

 

Nodding her head at his words, the words the young woman took a deep breath as she carefully made her way over. Naruto following as they walked. Though, Hinata couldn’t help but wonder what it was that they would find. It seemed almost unreal for that matter. How was it that they could do this, whoever that took Iruka had to have a reason? As for why that was though, she had no idea, and hoped that they would find their answer here.

 

Hiding behind a booth, Hinata looked at Naruto as he seemed to be thinking. His face twisted a little in thought as if the idea itself was enough to pain him. Soon, Hinata saw that Naruto was making hand gestures. Her face turned into confusion as she had no idea what it was that Naruto was trying to tell her. Before she could even ask, he was quickly crawling away from her.

 

Hinata couldn’t help but watch, Naruto looked up at the wolf demon who held a gun in his hand. He seemed serious, so it would be rather difficult to get past him it seemed. Naruto managed to make his way to another check out point, he hid behind the booth though it seemed that the wolf demon had managed to catch his scent. As he started to sniff at the air, causing Hinata to fear for his safety.

 

If he was caught, then so would she and their mission would have failed. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata knew that she would have to think of something, though what could she do from here? She was only a human, and humans could only go so far in some cases. Not to mention, if she used her sutras to subdue him, then there was a good chance that whoever ran this building would find out when his guards had passed out.

 

God, he was getting closer to Naruto. Damn it, she had to think of something now! Before it was too late!

 

Wait, they were wolves! Most wolves always gave into the desire to howl, she just had to give them a reason to now! Hinata took a deep breath as she let out a loud and long howl. Hoping that would be enough to distract the wolf, and if she was lucky the others would follow suit. That would at least give them some kind of cover. At the very least, she hoped that would be the case.

 

A howl was heard, Hinata couldn’t help but smile at that.

 

“Yo! Ginta you need to stop! You’ll cause a group howl!” shouted a man.

 

“It wasn’t me I didn’t start it!” said Ginta with a frown on his face.

 

Hinata smiled before she let out another howl, and the wolves soon started to follow suit. She couldn’t believe that this worked! It just seemed to have worked perfectly, giggling to herself, Hinata rushed to Naruto’s side. “Ready to go?” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“If this situation could would allow it, I’d hug you right now.” Naruto said with a smile before they managed to get past the check point. The wolf demons rather distracted with their howling. Though, Hinata couldn’t help but be rather confused as to why they were so easily distracted. It was something that she hadn’t learned about as a child, though she knew that maybe it was something that Naruto would most likely have an answer since he was mostly on the streets when he wasn’t busy hustling for money.

 

“I’d welcome the hug, but like you said so, this isn’t the time for hugs.” Hinata said with a smile on her face as they made their way through the door. Though Hinata got a better idea, she grabbed a hold of the fox and pointed upward. “Hope you’re small enough to fit through that grate.” Hinata smirked.

 

Naruto looked up only to groan. It seemed that he wasn’t keen on the idea of going up a drain pipe, though he knew that it was big enough for the two of them to fit in. At least, if one went in at a time. “Are you sure?” he asked with a frown.

 

“Yes I’m sure.” Hinata said with a roll of her eyes. “You’ll just need to rip it off the wall though, I can’t do it.” Hinata said with a sigh.

 

“Oh, because you think I’m manly enough to do so?” asked Naruto with a grin.

 

“Because you’re a demon and you have more strength than the average human.”

 

“Oh… right.” Naruto said with a nervous chuckle before he reached over with his nine swaying tails. Each managed to grab a hold of the grate. “Now, I should warn you, I haven’t used all nine of my tails for a while so they may be a little out of practice when it comes to ripping things off.” Naruto chuckled a little before he managed to tug. It took a couple tries, though he had managed to rip it off of the stone walls.

 

“Thank you Naruto.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“Not a problem princess.” Naruto chuckled before he used his tails to pull him up. Once he had managed to crawl in, Naruto turned to Hinata for a brief moment before holding out his tails to her. “Just be careful, I don’t like people pulling on my fur.”

 

Nodding in understanding, Hinata carefully grabbed a hold of Naruto’s tails, feeling as they seemed to coil themselves around her body. Hinata blushed for a moment as she felt Naruto lift her off of the ground, almost as if he had done so a million times with someone. He carefully pulled her into the pipe, moving himself along the way before he carefully put her down. “Okay, let’s get this over and done with alright?”

 

“Yeah, the sooner the better.” Hinata whispered softly.

 

The duo managed to crawl through the tunnels. Hinata was grateful that she was prepared for this, it was after all part of her training down at the academy. Though, to find herself crawling in the pipes of a place that could very well be some kind of lab or haunted house? They hadn’t prepared her for that and she would be lying if she wasn’t scared out of her mind.

 

“God…” Naruto whispered softly.

 

“What is it?” asked Hinata.

 

“I don’t know what it is, but I can sense so much. It’s as if this place is seeping with negative emotions. It’s a bit overwhelming.” Naruto whispered softly, his body let out a shudder before he took a deep calming breath. It seemed almost unnatural for her to see him like this. Though, she knew that this was part of his abilities. Even though this is the first time she’s ever really seeing it per say.

 

“Why am I just noticing this now?” asked Hinata.

 

“Hm?”

 

“Your powers.” Hinata whispered.

 

“I try not to use them, but right now I’m only trying to help you prove that you are worthy of being a cop.” Naruto let out a soft sigh before he stretched his arms out in front of him, almost like that of a cat. Hinata almost wanted to giggle at the thought, though she knew that she had to be careful.

 

“Hm?” Naruto stopped suddenly, causing her to be curious. Hearing him sniff at the air, Hinata couldn’t help but giggle a little. “I smell something.” Naruto whispered before he reached up at the grate that was above them. She didn’t see any more water, though the source had to be further up ahead. It almost made her wonder what it was that this water was from, but at the moment, she wasn’t going to take that chance.

 

“There we are.” Naruto whispered as he pushed the grate upward, and aside. He pulled himself out with ease, only to turn himself around and look down at Hinata and gave her a small smile. “Give me your hand princess.” Naruto whispered before he reached down and grabbed a hold of her hand. Hinata smiled of course as the fox pulled her out of the pipe. Honestly, she was hoping that it wasn’t sewage, though then again the water was rather clear so it was hard to say what it was.

 

“Wow…” Hinata whispered as she looked around. She couldn’t help but tilt her head a little, honestly it looked almost like a hospital. More so than some kind of lab of some kind. Though, it had her curious, why would they have Iruka here of all places? It just seemed rather odd, though Hinata knew that she would have to find some kind of evidence.

 

Pulling out her phone, thankful that it was at the most part water proof before she held it up and started to record everything. “Hey Princess, over here.” Naruto whispered out to her. The young woman looked over and blinked as she saw Naruto near one of the open rooms and tilted her head before she made her way over to him. “Check it out, claw marks. Wonder what was in here before?” he asked with a frown.

 

“No idea, but that’s why we’re here.” Hinata whispered softly.

 

Nodding his head, he turned over and looked up as he saw another room. This one was closed off though, so what was in there? Or was it closed off for another thing?

 

“I don’t see anything.” Naruto whispered, only to yelp as he jumped back as something had jumped out at him. It was a demon, maybe a tiger demon from what Hinata could make out with all the stripes. Frowning in confusion, she looked closer, the eyes were glowing. Much like that of an animal, though she couldn’t help but be curious at the same time. If this was a captured demon, it had her wondered why he was acting like that of a wild animal.

 

“Careful.” Hinata whispered before she looked around. A growl was heard causing her to look up and stare in shock. “Naruto look.”

 

“Hm?”

 

Looking up, the blonde and red haired man looked up and frowned a little as he saw the man that he had forgiven barely a few hours ago. “Iruka.” Naruto whispered, his friend, his brother like figure, narrowed his eyes at him and growled down at him like that of a beast.

 

Counting a bit under her breath, Hinata looked down at the closed off rooms and frowned a little. “One, two… “ She looked at the rest of the rooms and blinked in shock. “Not including Iruka, there are fourteen demon’s here. These… these are the missing demons!” Hinata said in shock. Only to smile as she added “I can’t believe we found them.” She couldn’t help but smile before looking over at Naruto and giggled a little. She was rather giddy with excitement and knew that this would be the moment of truth for her! That she had proven that she was indeed a good cop and nothing would stand in her way now!

 

“Let’s get this video to the chief and we shall show him where everyone is. Though I wonder who brought them all here.” Hinata whispered softly.

 

Soon, there was the sound of footsteps. Hinata could see Naruto’s ear twitching with the sound of footsteps. They’ll have to hide. Grabbing a hold of Naruto’s hand, she managed to pull him into the one room, looks like it was big enough to hold a troll demon or some kind of ogre or something. Though, she couldn’t help but be curious, she held up her phone as she went on with her recording, hoping and praying that she would be able to capture who it was that was capturing demons and keeping them here.

 

“Doctor, when do you think they’ll be ready for battle?” asked a voice, it was one that Hinata knew though couldn’t seem to place her finger on it.

 

“It won’t be for a long while, though I think we should be curious as to why this is happening sir.” A woman in a lap coat said as she gazed at her clipboard.

 

“That is true, but if demon’s are just attacking and going ‘savage’ then that is the least of my concerns. Besides, if they believed it was a demon’s biology in the long run they would turn against me at some point thinking that I would attack them in the end. It’s better this way. No one will ever try to take my position away from me, more so the very people who think they can stop my plan.” The man said, and it was then that Hinata looked up and stared with wide eyes.

 

It was the mayor, Madara Uchiha! But, why!?

 

“What about the chief of police though? You know he is looking for all these demons, as are their families.” The woman said with a frown on her face.

 

“The chief? Ha, he’s too fucking stupid to even come close to looking for anything with the cases that were given. Even I don’t know how these demons are changing, he doesn’t even know who is taking them! So long as I keep him astray, plus the fact that no one has come close yet we are safe.” Madara said with a smirk on his face. He couldn’t help but chuckle before he crossed his arms. “Besides, he’ll be too distracted with that human cop, he’ll be trying to get rid of her so he won’t deal with another loss on his hands.” Another loss?

 

Soon, Hinata’s phone started to go off, Madara looked around trying to find the source. Hinata cursed mentally and managed to shut her phone off. “Someone’s here! Lock everything down and search the area!” Shouted Madara as he ran out of the room. The doctor following suit as she locked up behind her.

 

“Damn it! We’re dead!” Naruto snarled before he walked around the room and crossed his arms. Leaning against a giant toilet. That gave Hinata an idea.

 

“You can swim right?” Hinata asked, pulling out a zip lock bag as she set her phone within it. It may be water resistant for the most part, though it still wasn’t fully protected.

 

“Of course I can, why?” asked Naruto.

 

“You’ll see.”

 

“I get the feeling I won’t like it.”

 

“No, no you won’t.”

 

“Fuck.”

 

And boy was Hinata right, as she had pretty much told Naruto to jump in the giant toilet, and she joined him. Pulling the lever at the same time before the force of the flush pulled them both down the giant drain. Hinata of course, wanted to be prepared as she held her breath, as did Naruto.

 

Naruto managed to hold his breath as well though seemed to see that that wasn’t going to be necessary. They were able to stay atop of the flow of water, only really sliding down with the flow. “I hope you have a landing plan!” shouted Naruto.

 

“No I don’t!” Hinata called out, causing Naruto to curse out once again.

 

Hinata managed to see the light at the end of the tunnel, though it wasn’t much as it was rather dark out, the moon the only source of light but sadly, it wasn’t enough yet. Hinata knew that this was going to be a huge pain in the ass.

 

“Brace yourself!” Hinata shouted, causing Naruto to yelp as he found themselves falling down a water fall. Hinata and Naruto both screamed in shock and surprise. “I didn’t see this coming!” Shouted Hinata in shock.

 

“Hold on princess!” Naruto shouted, wrapping his tails around her, pulling her body close to him before twisting his body around in the air. Hinata knew what it was that he was trying to do. He was trying to take the full brunt of the fall. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was a demon, hitting the water itself would kill him but it still had her worried for his safety.

 

“Naruto!” shouted Hinata.

 

Naruto let out a choked up gasp of pain before his eyes rolled into the back of his head. Blacking out. It seemed that when they had landed, that he had hit a flat yet still rough stone that poked out of the water. The blue haired woman panicked and freaked out as she checked Naruto’s pulse, his breathing for anything! Nothing.

 

Staring at him with wide eyes, she couldn’t let him die! Eyes watering, Hinata placed her hands on his chest and took a deep breath, hoping that this would be enough to save him. “Come on!” She shouted, managing to focus her sacred energy into her hands, hoping that it would shock him like a defibrillator. It should be enough, it would have to be enough to work on a demon after all. She wasn’t using enough that it would kill him, but to merely shock him back.

 

“Damn it work!” Shouted Hinata.

 

Another jolt with her energy, nothing. “Work! I won’t let you die here!” shouted Hinata, another jolt and it was then that Naruto started to breathe. His eyes wide as he let out choked up coughs in the hopes of catching his breath. Taking a couple deep breaths, Naruto looked around only for his eyes to fall in Hinata and tilt his head at her. “Oh god you’re alive!” Hinata said with happy tears streaming down her face.

 

“Hinata… you… you’re a priestess?” Naruto whispered in shock.

 

“I… I’ll explain later, right now we need to talk to Kakashi!” shouted Hinata before pulling out her phone that was still safe in the little baggy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah I know, Madara said that he needed notes on his desk but they have been at that hospital for a while so he could have easily just put the files away and did what he needed to do.


	16. Friendship Broken

The trip to the station was rough, though Hinata had managed to call Choji to let him know that she had found all of the missing demons. He had been rather excited for it all, having told her that he would alert Kakashi right away. That this was something that they could celebrate at long last! Though, Hinata knew that she would have to hurry up and show the video to Kakashi before he made any brash decisions.

 

Naruto though, had thought of a faster way. Though he still seemed rather nervous about finding out that she was a priestess, though seemed to remember that she could have used her powers all that time on him, but never even tried too. Until it came to saving his life that is.

 

He had shifted into a giant nine tailed fox, it was enough to make Hinata stare in awe, never knowing that he would be able to change like this. Turning his eyes at her, still blue Hinata just smiled before climbing onto his back and made herself comfortable as she held onto the fur around the man’s neck. Once Naruto was sure that she was comfortable, he ran as fast as he could, Hinata of course yelped in shock as she tightly pressed herself against Naruto’s back as she held onto him.

 

She never knew that he was so fast!

 

Though many people had told him that he shouldn’t have shifted in the first place. Though he just let out a growl saying that it was an emergency before jumping over them.

 

Hinata frowned as she wondered how his fur was so soft, it was rather amazing though for now she knew that she had to keep her focus on the task at hand.

 

They arrived in little to no time, how that was Hinata didn’t know and felt like that was something that only Naruto would really be able to fully explain.

 

Once she slid off of his back, Naruto grabbed a hold of her hand and ran up the stairs of the building of precinct one and made her way into the lobby. “Choji!” Shouted Hinata. “Take me to Chief Kakashi!” Without missing a beat, the trio ran to the chief’s office. Kakashi though, of course seemed as if he was waiting for them that very moment as he sat at his desk with his hands folded atop of his desk. “Chief!”

 

“So, you say you found them all?” asked Kakashi.

 

“Yes sir!” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

“Alright, let’s see this proof.” Kakashi said as he pulled himself up from his seat and made his way over to Hinata, the young woman of course pulling up her phone and revealed to him the video that she had recorded. Kakashi stared in shock at what was shown to him, such as the mayor being behind everything. It seemed that what also bothered him was what the mayor had to say about him.

 

Hinata of course wanted to ask him what it was that the mayor was talking about, though right now she knew that wasn’t the right time. Now, was the time for action and nothing more.

 

“Chief, I know that everyone looked up to the mayor but now, he is nothing but a criminal, kidnapping those who have gone savage, and we must put an end to this.” Hinata said with a frown on her face.

 

“Yes, you are right.” Kakashi whispered before he grabbed his speaker. “Attention all available units, we are going to the location given to us by Officer Hyuuga to bring those missing demon’s home.” Kakashi announced, and Hinata smiled as she heard everyone cheer. It seemed that everything was finally going back to normal, that everyone would be able to finally be able to find peace at long last, though she just hoped that the aftermath would bring those demons back to their sanity and back to normal.

 

* * *

 

 

They arrived at the secret hospital, and Hinata couldn’t have been happier. One of the demon cops had managed to apprehend Madara with little to no difficulties, first thinking that their mayor would have tried everything within their power to get away, though it had seemed that he hadn’t been able too. It was rather odd, that much was for sure, though Hinata smiled at the thought. She had managed to throw a sutra at the man, blocking his powers for the most part. He was still stronger than the average human man, though he just snarled at them.

 

“Mayor Madara, you are under arrest for the kidnapping of fifteen demons. You have the right to keep silent, and you will be given your choice of a lawyer of your own choosing.” Hinata listed off as she walked with the demon man that held onto the mayor. Though, Madara just grinned as he looked down at the blue haired woman. “What?”

 

“You think I’m the one behind everything? You are sadly mistaken. I only captured the demons, I didn’t make them go savage.” Madara said with a dark chuckle. Why that didn’t seem to sit well with her, she had no idea. But was sure that they had captured the real culprit. At least, she was sure that this was the case.

 

Though it seemed that he just let out a twisted laugh as he was taken away to the cruiser. Hinata though, just let out a soft sigh as she gazed up at the sky. Clouds having darkened as the rain soon began to fall. She couldn’t help but feel like she was still missing something, though what was it? What could it have been?

 

“Yo, princess you alright?” asked Naruto, causing her to look up at him with a frown on her face.

 

“Yeah, I’m just confused. We captured Madara, the one who was kidnapping the demons but we don’t know how he caused them to go savage.” Hinata said with a frown on her face.

 

“I’m sure we’ll find out princess. You just have to have a little bit of faith is all.” Naruto said with a chuckle before he started to walk on ahead of her. His sunglasses resting atop of his head. Where did he even keep those in the first place? Shaking her head, Hinata smiled as she walked on with him. “You know, going back to work will be boring compared to all of this.

 

“Hm, maybe you need a career change.” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

“Maybe, though it’s gonna be hard to find something exciting.” Naruto said with a smile of his own.

 

Hinata just smiled back up at him, maybe she would be able to help him with that, though she knew that she would need a little bit of time for that.  Turning her gaze, she couldn’t help but watch as all the demons that were in the hospital were whipping around, trying to break free of their holders grasp, Hinata felt bad for them, knowing that something had to be done in order to save them.

 

Yet, no one could seem to figure out what it was that they were going to do in order to save them from this madness. “Naruto, do you think that they went feral?” asked Hinata as she looked up at Naruto with a frown on her face.

 

“No, I don’t. When you go feral, it’s due to losing a mate. Iruka, for example didn’t have a mate, at least not that I know of. He was fine when he was talking to us before he started to chase us.” Naruto said with a frown, scratching at the back of his head as he let out a soft sigh. “Yet, it is pretty close. When you go feral, you have some sense of knowing what is around you to a certain degree, and all you feel is anger, hate, and desire to shed blood. But them?” Naruto turned his gaze for a brief moment before looking away from them. “I sense nothing. I don’t sense any kind of emotions from them in the least, it’s as if their mind is that of a machine. “

 

“What do you mean by that? Wouldn’t they still be able to feel something? One of them did try to attack us in the lab.” Hinata pointed out.

 

“True, but there is a difference between having the desire to kill and shed blood, to just doing it because your body feels the need too.” Naruto pointed back before he turned to stare at the blue haired woman and saw her confusion. “I’ve come to learn that when you are killing because you want too, it is because of your own feelings. You want to kill because you want too, either because you feel the desire to either to eat or just for the sake of killing.” Naruto calmly said before looking away. “You are still feeling it, it’s a negative feeling that I would be able to pick up on. Yet, if your body itself is the one doing all of the movement before your brain can tell it too, there is no feeling. It’s as if their body is responding faster than their minds can comprehend. I can’t really describe it, but it seems rather impossible.” Naruto groaned as he rubbed his face, only to drag them off of his face.

 

“So, this is something that’s never happened before?” asked Hinata with a frown on her face.

 

“Yes, even family that I know who can sense emotions like I do haven’t experienced something like this. It’s new, odd and out of the ordinary. Coming from me, that’s saying something else.” Naruto said with a sigh before he looked at Hinata. He gave her a small smile before placing a hand on her head to ruffle her blue locks. “Don’t worry though Princess, you’ve got your demon in shining armor protecting you.” He chuckled a little at that. Hinata though, couldn’t help but smile at him at that.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata looked behind the wall, it was strange to see something like this. It had confused her a great deal as to why Kakashi came up to her to tell her that as the cop that discovered the demons location that she would have to give a speech. Walking back and forth behind the wall, Hinata felt her nerves starting to unravel. She knew that this was something that would have to be done at some point, talking in front of a crowd at her graduation was one thing if she had, but the press?

 

A whole other story.

 

“Oh boy, what should I say? What should I do?” Hinata mumbled.

 

“Okay, key to talking to the press?” Naruto began, causing Hinata to look up at him. “In order to make yourself look smarter, they ask you a question then you ask a question and answer that question.” Naruto began, seeing her confused look he chuckled a little. “Like this!” Clearing his throat, Naruto tried to change his voice, though failing a little. “Officer Hyuuga, would you say that this was a tough case?” He then tried to make his voice sound a little more womanly though again, failed. “Was it a tough case? Yes, yes it was.”

 

Hinata giggled a little as she looked up at Naruto and just smiled at him. She couldn’t tell if he was doing it as a means of trying to comfort her or if he was really giving her some advice on what she should do when it came to speaking to the press. “You should be up there with me, you helped with the case too you know.” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

Naruto could only chuckle as he dug his hands into his pockets. “Am I a cop though? No, I’m not.” Naruto smiled a little before he looked up at some of the posters of many past officers and, for a moment Hinata thought that she saw a look of longing in his blue eyes.

 

“Well, now that you mention it.” Hinata whispered, pulling out a sheet of paper before looking up at him with a soft smile on her face. “You mentioned how boring your job would be after the case and I could use a partner on the force.” Hinata said with a soft expression on her face. “And, I want you to be that partner if you choose to be an officer.” Naruto just stared with wide eyes before he looked down at her with confusion all over his face. He carefully accepted the paper and his eyes looked down at the paper as he also noticed something else with it.

 

Pulling his hand from under the paper, he saw Hinata’s necklace. The one that held his confession on it and he couldn’t help but stare at him in shock. “A deal is a deal.” Said the blue haired officer before she looked back and sighed softly as she started to make her way over to the podium. Hinata noticed that all of the reporters were humans, it very little of them were demons though then again, a reporter didn’t require you to be in a dangerous environment such as police work and constructors.

 

“Officer Hyuuga, how difficult was the case when it was given to you?” One of the reporters called out. Hinata seemed rather nervous, her gaze turning as she stared at Naruto as he gave her a calm expression. He held his hands to his chest before slowly pulling them away as he mouthed the word ‘breathe’ to her.

 

Hinata nodded her head before turning her gaze back to the press as she took in a deep breath. “How difficult was the case? Very. Finding the demons took me almost two days to solve, and I have to thank my friend for helping me out on the case.”

 

“What do you think made the demons go savage?” asked another reporter.

 

Hinata frowned a bit at that. Honestly, she had no idea on that yet. No one did. “At the moment, we have no idea on as to what had caused their change of behaviour.” Hinata began, though noticed that she was starting to lose their interest. There had to be something that would have drawn them back in, this was important, that demons were targets to whatever it was that was happening. Then she remembered something that had been said about demons and their biology. “I think it has something to do with their biology.” Hinata said, causing all the reporters, and Naruto to look up at her. Though, the latter more in shock than anything else.

 

“I believe, that demons are returning to their most basic of instincts, we do not know the cause but it is plausible that it is due to their biology or something is triggering it.” Hinata calmly said.

 

“Are you saying that any demon can attack us out of the blue?” called one reporter.

 

“Are you saying that none of us are safe?!”

 

“What about the children, can they go savage?!”

 

Hinata frowned as the questions started to all but pour out and it was starting to get a little overwhelming. Meanwhile, Naruto had walked out from behind the wall as the questions started to pour out and he couldn’t help but look at Hinata with hurt in his blue eyes. His gaze slowly started to turn as he stared at the screen that displayed all the demons that were being taken out of the hospital toward cars. A few of them had what would be best described as muzzles but what he had noticed was the sutras that were binding them.

 

His mind flashed back to those days when he was a child at the ranger scouts. The sounds of laughter, of his cries for help, everyone calling him a beast and that he was not to be trusted. So many things flashed in his mind, images and sounds were more powerful. Along with the faint and forgotten scent of his tears when he was a child. All of that was there, and he had hoped that he would never feel that again.

 

Naruto couldn’t help but rip his gaze away as he walked back to his hiding spot behind the wall, waiting for the blue haired woman.

 

“That is all for today. Chief Kakashi and I will handle the rest.” Obito said before he walked Hinata off of the stage. “You did great Hinata, go and rest up alright?” Hinata frowned a little but nodded her head before she made her way back to Naruto and saw him leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his chest as if he was in deep thought.

 

What she also noticed was that his eyes were rather clouded, many emotions flickered in his blue pools but she felt like it was more than could ever hope to understand. “Naruto? How did I do? I had hoped that I did okay and-“

 

“Is that what you really think?” Naruto whispered softly.

 

“Huh?”

 

“Demons are reverting to their most basic of instincts by something triggering their biology? Is that what you really meant?!” Naruto all but snarled at her, he was hurt. That much she could read from him. “Is that what you really mean though Princess? That demons will just up and attack people at the drop of a hat?!”

 

“Naruto, stop that. It isn’t like that.” Hinata said with a frown besides tilting her head. “Humans have that as well but it isn’t like a human could go savage.”

 

“Oh, but a demon can. _I_  can for that matter. Right?” Naruto said sharply.

 

“Stop that Naruto, that isn’t what I meant at all. You’re not like them.”

 

“Oh, it’s a ‘them’ now isn’t it?” Naruto said with a narrow of his eyes.

 

“You know what I meant, you aren’t like others Naruto. You’re different, I know that much.”

 

“Okay, then let me ask _you_  something Princess.” Naruto said as he towered over her, his eyes full of anger. “Are you afraid of me?” Huh? Naruto walked closer to Hinata, causing her to take a step back. “Is that it Princess? Do you think I’ll go savage? Scared enough that you’ll have to carry around a pouch full of sutras?!” Hinata looked at her thigh and looked at the pouch in question before looking at Naruto in shame. “Yeah, don’t think I hadn’t noticed that when we first met.”

 

“Naruto I… I can explain.”

 

“You know what? Don’t bother, I bet I won’t like it either way.” Naruto said before he took another step toward her. “Do you carry that around, even after all that we’ve been through thinking I’ll hurt you? That you’ll be attacked by me?!” His eyes glowed as they changed into a deep crimson, pupils narrowing into slits as he glared down at her. “Enough so that I may _kill you?!”_  he snarled down at her, holding his claws out to her as if he was about to attack the poor blue haired woman.

 

Her action though, was what told Naruto everything he needed to know. Hinata had backed up trying to protect herself, and her one hand holding out as a means to hold Naruto back, while the other was reaching for the sutras.

 

When he saw that, Hinata could see the look of pain in his eyes. “I thought so.” He gave a dry humourless chuckle as he closed his eyes. “Just when I thought that for once, I had someone’s belief that I could be something else and… it was for nothing after all.” Turning to her, he slammed the paper against her chest, not enough to hurt her, but enough for her to get the point across. “Maybe, it is best that you don’t have a demon for a partner after all.” He whispered before he started to walk off.

 

Hinata couldn’t help but look at Naruto with wide eyes before turning her gaze quickly to his police registration form before running after him. “Naruto wait!”

 

Before she could get far, all of the press blocked her from trying to get further to her friend. “Did that demon attack you Officer Hyuuga?” asked one man.

 

“No, he’s my friend!”

 

“Are you saying we can’t even trust our friends?”

 

“I am not saying that! Please just let me through!” Hinata called out trying to reach the fox demon, only for it to fail.

 

Kakashi of course, made his way over to Hinata and pulled her away. “Let’s go Hyuuga, let’s get you away from these pests.” Hinata looked up at Kakashi for a moment before looking at the paper. She had seen that Naruto had written part of his information down. Such as his name, and his abilities.

 

_Naruto Uzumaki._

_Abilities: sensing negative emotions, fire, wind, illusions, street smarts and business savvy.’_

_Have you been arrested._  She saw that he had originally marked yes, only to cross that out and select no. Hinata let out a soft sigh… she just lost her friend. _’I’m sorry Naruto…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, Hinata hurt Naurto, not meaning too and now it seems their short friendship is broken beyond repair, or is it?


	17. The Hearts Turmoil

After that day, everything had been going rather poorly. It seemed that after her press conference, the relationship between humans and demons have dwindled down. Not like it was much better before. Hinata had known that the bridge between humans and demons were still far from healing, and it was something that she could understand herself as she still had the scars on her face from when she was a child.

 

Yet, what really bothered her was the look on Naruto’s face. A look that she had started to understand what he was feeling. Pain, betrayal, and a broken trust. She had been the one person he had confide in since he was a child and better yet, she was a priestess that could easily kill him and he hadn’t even brought that up. It made her know, that it had been her words and her actions to grabbing her sutras in a means of defence.

 

It wasn’t that she had seen Naruto at that moment when he was only saying that he could have hurt her. Far from it, it was the face of her bully that she had seen in that moment.

 

Now, here she was, months after the demons have been found and yet they hadn’t been able to find a way to help them. Hinata didn’t know what she could do, it had felt like everything was starting to fall apart. More demons were turning savage, and it seemed that no matter what happened, they couldn’t find any means of a cure for them.

 

It was getting to the point that they hired a priestess from a powerful family in order to help them and they had decided to try it on the newly savage Iruka around that time. Hinata could still recall that day.

 

She had gone in to check in on Iruka, only a couple days after the press conference and she had hoped that they had a means of being able to help Iruka. Though sadly, it wasn’t even safe to go in. They had to subdue him in order for them to get him to stop using his attacks.

 

After a couple tries from demons that are immune to elemental attacks, managed to get Iruka tied down and of course neutralized his powers so he couldn’t use it on the priestess. Hinata had managed to look at the priestess and blinked in shock at who it was that had come to help the demons. It was Hanabi! “Sister!” Hinata said in shock.

 

“Oh, Hinata! Didn’t think I’d see you here, what brings you here?” asked Hanabi with a tilt of her head.

 

“I wanted to check on a couple people here. Iruka was the last person I witnessed to turn savage while I was on the case. I had hoped that maybe I could do something but then again I wouldn’t know.” Hinata said with a soft sigh before looking away.

 

“Do not be sorry Hinata. I know why you did this and I don’t hold your choices against you. You wanted your own life, your own fate and destiny and you took that chance when it presented itself to you.” Hanabi said with a smile before she reached over and hugged her sister. Hinata smiled and hugged Hanabi back before letting go. “I hope you can help Hanabi.”

 

Hanabi nodded her head before walking into the room.

 

Though, Hinata had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t have worked in the first place. After all, it didn’t feel like it had anything to do with their demonic energy. It felt different to her, as if it was more of a toxin that was through their body rather than just that. Ever since then, Hinata had tried to find another way to prove that she was wrong. That it wasn’t really their biology like she had originally thought but no matter what, she just couldn’t find any kind of answer. It just felt like as if she kept hitting dead ends at this point.

 

Hinata sighed softly as she sat at her desk. Everything that had wanted to rip its way through her theories had happened. Everything that she came up with just didn’t seem to stick and would fall apart at the seams. What was she missing?

 

Even chatting with Madara proved useless. He had only mentioned that he had no idea how they had gone savage, only that he would hire his men to go and capture the demons before they attacked others so he could create his army. Nothing more.

 

“Hyuuga.” Came a voice, causing Hinata to look up as she saw the tired look of Kakashi. “May I have a word with you?”

 

“Of course chief.” Hinata said with a tilt of her head.

 

“I want to say I am sorry for ever doubting you. You see, I didn’t want another human on the force, last one that had been on with the force I regret each and every single day.” He said with a soft sigh before he looked up at the ceiling. “I let Rin in, knowing that she had the skillset that could make a great officer. Yet one day during a hostage situation, she had tried to speak to the demons, hoping that she could talk them out of shooting any hostages.”

 

“What happened?” asked Hinata with a frown.

 

“They took no remorse to their actions as they shot her down. Rin had been hit in vital areas in her body so she had little to no chance of survival. I couldn’t bare the loss and made sure that no one would come onto the force. AT least, not another human.” Kakashi said with a soft sigh. It seemed that it still pained him.

 

“Sir, if I may ask did you love her?” asked Hinata.

 

“I did, I loved her greatly. Though because I haven’t lost myself must mean that she wasn’t my true mate, but I still do not wish to find another.” Kakashi said before he was about to walk away.

 

“Sir wait.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I must know… more. How long ago was this?” asked Hinata.

 

“About over a hundred years ago I believe.” Kakashi said with a sigh before turning to Hinata. “I won’t lie, I didn’t like you on the force because I was afraid of losing another human who couldn’t handle themselves but you proved me wrong. You are a good cop, and we need more like you.” Kakashi said with a small smile.

 

“But, I broke the world sir.”

 

“It’s always been broken Hyuuga. That is something that hasn’t changed, this just brought just how broken it really is out further. You are still a good cop so don’t let this get you down.”

 

Hinata shook her head as she rubbed her face. Honestly, she didn’t think she really deserved to be a cop anymore. No matter what, everything was dragging her down and it made her feel like everything was against her now. It just hurt so much, it was a feeling that she didn’t ever want to feel anymore. “I’m sorry sir but… a real cop is to serve and protect not make things worse.” Hinata set her badge aside on her desk. “I’ll take my leave sir, I’m sorry.”

 

Hinata knew that this was a rash decision, but… her heart couldn’t take any more pain.

 

* * *

 

 

Naruto sat in a bar as he tried to drink himself into stupidity. Honestly, he just wanted to forget everything that had happened. It had been months since he had seen Hinata and he still felt the bitter sting of betrayal. It was something that he hadn’t known that he could feel before, maybe because he had thought that he had a true friend and yet… _'It’s best not to think about it.’_  He thought to himself as he took another sip out of his drink.

 

“Can’t believe what that bitch said at that press conference.” Naruto’s ear flickered at a couple of demons sitting a few tables away from the bar. “It’s because of humans like her that make humans hate demons more and more every day! I bet she wouldn’t even waste her time with one! I’m amazed that she’s willing to put up being surrounded by demons every day.” Naruto frowned a little at that.

 

Honestly, he wanted to think the same thing but a part of him didn’t. No matter how much Hinata had hurt him, there was a part of him that still accepted her. It made him think back when he had asked her about the scars on her cheek. She had said that she was attacked by a demon as a child. Of course she was still scared, though was it really because of him? Or, was it because of someone else?

 

“Though you can’t deny that she is a sexy woman. Look at the size of her rack!” shouted one of the demons, causing the others to chatter in agreement. “What I wouldn’t give to fuck that!”

 

Naruto clenched his hand tightly around the mug. Sure, he was a man but to talk about a woman like that? It made him sick. “Though don’t forget, she wouldn’t give you the time of day. She hates demons remember? Why else say that about us in the first place?” No, that was far from the truth. Even though Naruto wanted to say otherwise.

 

He was still hurt by her words yes, but damn it, that damn instinct in him was telling him that no matter what, he still thought of Hinata as part of his pack.

 

“Maybe we should teach her about the benefits of being with a demon?” Smirked one of the demons.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Well, maybe we show her a good time and hopefully we’ll get lucky.”

 

It was then in that moment that Naruto’s grip had tightened to the point that it broke his glass in his hands. The demons turned to stare at the source of the sound as it was rather deafening in the bar. Most likely people thought that it was a fight about to break out, and maybe it was about to in a moment. “How about you shut the fuck up about her. You don’t know shit about her.” Naruto snarled.

 

“What would you know? Not like you know her any better than we do.” Naruto turned his gaze as he stared at them, his blue eyes starting to bleed read. “Oh, did we piss off the fox? What are you gonna do? You don’t have enough power to take all of us on!” shouted one of the demons.

 

Oh, that’s right, they only see the illusion that he had created. He had managed to fix the string of his necklace and managed to hide himself again. Yet, a part of him was saying that he shouldn’t hide himself. That it was only bringing shame to him and that he could prove to others that just because he was a nine tailed fox, he wasn’t what others thought he really should be. “Oh?” Naruto said in a mock tone of voice before he removed his necklace. His tail splitting into nine as he saw their skin go pale. “Try me fuckers.”

 

“You’re a nine tailed fox?!” Shouted one of the demons.

 

“Damn fucking straight!” Naruto snarled as he marched over to them, grabbing the one by his shirt and held him up. “Now listen here you fucks. Just because she screwed us all over doesn’t mean that you should try to hurt her. Try to all but rape her of all things! I don’t care about what she says, but I won’t let you hurt her.”

 

“Why? You her boyfriend?!” shouted one of the demons.

 

“No. But she is still part of my pack numb nuts!” Shouted Naruto.

 

In that moment, the demons just stared at him in shock. Honestly, he had no idea why he even said that. Not like it was their business on who was in his pack or not, yet it just seemed to have slipped out and now, he was having to listen to them chatter quietly among themselves. “Aren’t you the demon that walked away from the press conference?” asked one of the demons.

 

“So what if I am?” So they had recorded him leaving the station. Well, that was fucking great, and it made it easier for them to notice when he had his tails out during that time.

 

“Ha, he’s just another loser that thought he had a friend but really wasn’t!”

 

“Yeah, I bet she didn’t even mean her words when she called out to her ‘friend’ while he walked away.”

 

Wait what?

 

“What did you say?” Naruto said with a frown.

 

“She was saying some shit about a demon being her friend and looked like she was struggling to get to him. Didn’t think she’d waste her time with someone like you of all people.” A demon mumbled under his breath.

 

Naruto rolled his eyes at the man before dropping him to the floor. “Maybe, but what makes you think you’d have a chance with her?” Naruto snarled down at them before he added “If I ever smell you near her I’ll make sure you regret it.” They nodded their heads before walking off. Naruto turned to the bartender and slapped a couple bills down. “A little extra for me breaking your mug.”

 

“No worries Naruto, I think they needed a good talking too. I was tired of hearing their bullshit too.” Said the bartender with a kind smile on his face.

 

Naruto nodded his head before he started to walk on out. Honestly, he had been rather surprised by his actions. Sure, he knew that he was still feeling pain from Hinata’s words at the conference, but, at the same time he felt like he couldn’t really blame her as well. He thought back to her scars, she only said that it was a demon that had hurt her. Yet, she didn’t say what kind of demon? Why though?

 

Turning his gaze to his now raised hands, Naruto couldn’t help but frown a little. What was it that made Hinata fear to tell him what kind of demon it was that had attacked her as a child? It was then that it hit him, “Hinata was attacked by a fox demon.” Naruto whispered in shock. No wonder why she was scared of him when he was trying to prove his point. She was scared because she wasn’t seeing _him_  but seeing the one that had attacked her as a child!

 

“I’m such an idiot.” Naruto whispered to himself.

 

“Naruto?” came Kurama’s voice, causing the man to turn his blue eyes as he looked at his partner in crime. Well, his friend as well though it was hard to say how strong their friendship was. “There you are, I heard about what happened between you and the human cop. Sorry buddy.”

 

“Whatever, it ended on a sour note for us.” Naruto said with a sigh before rubbing the back of his head. “Though, I still feel like she’s part of my pack.” Naruto groaned as he held onto his face, trying to get himself to calm down yet no matter what he just couldn’t let go. “I don’t know why that is.”

 

“Oh, that’s easy Naruto. Hinata had proven herself to you in some way. That’s how packs are formed, depending on the pack leader, those who haven’t started their own pack yet per say, have to have their own way of proving themselves to the pack leader. In your case, Hinata must have done something to have proven herself to you. What that was, no idea.”

 

Must have been when he had seen her shrinking when the chief of police had tried to force her to quit. Seeing her once a strong person only to end up being spoken down too and almost seemed rather defenceless. He closed his eyes for a brief moment as he said “Well, she had also proven that she isn’t worthy of being in my pack so why hasn’t it changed?”

 

“Because it wasn’t strong enough to change your inner demon’s mind. Once someone joins a pack, it’s hard to get out. Maybe a part of you already knew why it was that she said what she said, and it wasn’t enough to sway you?” Kurama said with a shrug of his shoulders before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Not like it’d matter anyway, she quit the force.”

 

“What?” Naruto blinked in shock.

 

“Yeah, it was announced this morning.” Great, when he had been passed out at home. “Apparently, she gave no reason other than that she had hurt many demons and her friend with her words and felt like she had failed this city, so she is going home.”

 

Naruto looked up at the sky, he didn’t think she would really go home. She had worked so hard to be a cop and yet after this whole thing, this whole problem, it was stronger to make her go home huh? Well, he had a feeling that she was going to come back. If there was one thing that Naruto knew for sure it was that Hinata had a drive to her. She wouldn’t just leave things empty handed that was for sure. Though, it was the ‘when’ that would be the hardest for him. Sighing softly, Naruto turned to his friend as he saw the other man looking at the sky.

 

“Kurama, do me a favor?” asked Naruto.

 

“Sure?”

 

“If there is ever a chance that she comes looking for you first before me, have her meet me here.” Naruto calmly said as he pulled out a piece of paper and started to write down directions. “I’ll be here between these times. If it’s after those times or before, have her either go to my place or wait for me there.” Naruto calmly explained before he looked up, a little spark in his blue eyes.

 

“How are you sure that she’ll be coming back?” asked Kurama.

 

“If there was one thing I learned about my princess, it’s that she doesn’t give up as easily as she may make it seem.” Naruto said with a grin on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah, Naruto may try to forget about Hinata, but he soon notices that his demon had already chosen her as a part of his pack, not his mate, just part of his pack, and she hasn't fucked up enough for his demon to rethink anything.


	18. Forgiveness

Hinata sat on the porch of her home in the Sacred Lands. Having returned to her training to be a priestess, a life that she had wanted to avoid at all costs. It wasn’t that being a priestess was bad, it was a way to help people but, it just wasn’t her and it felt like she was running away from her life. A life that she had wanted so badly in her life and now, she felt like she had ruined everything that was happening in her life.

 

“Sis?” came a voice, causing Hinata to look up to stare at her sister who took a seat next to her. Hinata gave her sister a soft smile before looking away. It was nice to see that some things hadn’t changed while she was away. The lands were still bursting with flowers, such as the flowers that her family use as a means to protect the herbs from rabbits, or insects from them. It was nice though, she couldn’t help but feel… empty.

 

“How are you Hanabi?” asked Hinata.

 

“I’m fine but I should be asking you that.” Hanabi said with a frown on her face, causing Hinata to look up with a frown on her face. “Ever since you got home, you’ve been moping around, something had you upset and I know for a fact that if it was something big that it wouldn’t bother you for this long.” Hanabi said with a sigh.

 

“I’m fine, really.” Hinata said with a soft sigh.

 

“Does it have anything to do with that fox demon that walked out of the station that day of the conference? The one you called your ‘friend’?” asked Hanabi.

 

Hinata lowered her head, her shoulders slumping a bit as she thought about Naruto. He was most likely still pissed at her, and she knew that he had every single right to be. She had made it sound like demons were now the enemy again and that they had to be feared and yet, here she was. Running away more so than she had thought she’d ever do in her life.

 

“Yes.” Hinata whispered softly, not sure what she could do or say. Honestly, what more could she say? It had felt like everything that she could say or do would have been rather… empty. No matter what she would say, the young woman knew that they would be meaningless. Ever since she had returned home though, it had felt like she was being a coward, and she knew that was something she’d never do but sadly that’s what she was doing, and it was the one thing that she never wanted to do.

 

“Hinata, you shouldn’t think that you ruined everything. Everyone makes mistakes, I know I do. Even father makes mistakes, heck he even started to teach children here at the manor in the hopes to show them that they can still learn how to harness their sacred powers but also, know that they shouldn’t just use it for no reason.” Hanabi said with a smile on her face.

 

Hinata blinked as she stared at her sister and stared with wide eyes. “What?”

 

“Father learned that not all demons are bad.” Hanabi said with a smile before giggling a little. “That, some demons are bad, but there are good ones as well. Much like humans, so he decided to make sure that the next generation learn this lesson as well.” Hinata could only blink and stare in shock at what was happening, or at the very least that had been said. How was it that he was allowing himself to teach other children, when normally the only people who learned here were their family or at the very least the next in line to take over. It was strange, that much Hinata knew, though she knew that this was also something that must have come around when she decided to become a cop.

 

Though, if her father could change his ways so why couldn’t the world do the same thing? That was what bothered her so much. Or at least, more so than it should, that’s what bothered her more than anything really, and had hoped that someone would have helped her with something yet it wasn’t like her answer to her own problems and worries would be just handed to her in the first place.

 

Letting out a soft sigh Hinata looked up at the sky as she hoped that she could find her answers. Yet, again nothing was as easy as it seems.

 

“Hinata, I’m sure if you really tried your friend would forgive you.” Hanabi said with a soft smile on her face.

 

“I know but, I don’t think he’ll forgive me that easily. I hurt him so much with what I did, rather than just what I had to say.” Hinata whispered, lowering her voice a little as she looked down at the ground below her. “Plus, it seems the attacks are only increasing even with the new mayor in power. Obito had told me before he left that they would be alright but, so far it only seems to be getting worse from here on out.

 

“True, but again it’s been months Hinata. I’m sure that he can’t stay that mad forever.” Hanabi said with a small smile on her face.

 

Hinata shook her head before looking back up at the sky. “I was the first human he’s trusted since he was a child. I threw it back in his face without even meaning too. What could I do to show him that I am sorry that I do appreciate his friendship even though I’m a terrible human being?”

 

“Hinata.”

 

“No, I’m serious! I’m a horrible, horrible person. I hurt him more than I had thought I could ever hurt someone before in my life and I feel horrible for it. I’d only known him for two days and yet I’ve never felt bad for hurting anyone before and this guilt is only eating me up inside!” Hinata said with a soft sigh.

 

“Sis…”

 

“I’m sorry Hanabi, it’s just what’s been in my head for a few days now.” Hinata whispered.

 

“She should be out here, the children should be playing here soon as well.” Came a voice, causing Hinata and Hanabi to look up. The sliding door opened up to reveal Hiashi and another man. One that seemed almost the same age as Hinata herself. “Ah, I was right. Hinata, you remember Konohamaru don’t you?”

 

Hinata’s eyes widened for a brief moment before she reached up and touched her wounded cheek. Konohamaru frowned a little at that. His hair was still styled upward, held up with a headband that he seemed to prefer wearing. He had on a short sleeved yellow shirt and some long black pants. On his arms looked like arm bands that almost looked like guards that would protect his arms from damage. His black eyes stared at her with regret and remorse. “Um… hey Hinata.” Konohamaru said as he rubbed the back of his head. “Look, I’m so sorry for how I behaved when we were kids. I guess I had a lot of anger, and I had some self-doubt about my skills as a demon, my therapist had suggested to me that I find a way to find an outlet for my anger and I did, and well, I just wanted to say I’m so sorry for what I did to you. I was a real jerk to you and I hope that you can someday forgive me.”

 

Hinata blinked up at him in shock and confusion. He… was trying to say sorry to her? No, he was saying sorry to her for all that he had done as a child. Hinata gave him a small smile as she said “It’s okay, I forgive you.”

 

Konohamaru grinned brightly as he said “Thank goodness. I was scared you’d hate me forever for what I did to ya.” Running a hand through his hair, the young man looked at Hiashi as he said “Man, when I came here for reports, I didn’t expect for your dad to say that you were home.”

 

“Reports?” Hinata asked with a frown on her face.

 

“Oh, right you don’t know yet. See, when your dad started to teach other children about their sacred powers, I decided to help them in self-defence. I also keep them safe while we’re out in the fields should any stray demon try to attack or harm them. It takes a lot out of me since I’m not that powerful since I only have two tails but, it’s enough to take down these demons. Just happy I haven’t run into any feral ones yet.”

 

Hinata could only blink at that. So, Konohamaru helped out at the manor with the children’s training, and to make sure that they are well protected as well. It was rather amazing that he was going so far as to keep them safe even admitting that he wasn’t as powerful as he should be. Yet, Hinata couldn’t help but smile a little at that.

 

“Children, stay away from the Midnicampum holicithias!” shouted Hiashi, causing the children to stop laughing and whined before walking away. Hinata hadn’t even noticed that they had came into the gardens. It was amazing how one could be lost in their own thoughts and day dreams. Maybe she needed to relax a little and focus on her own training instead of her own problems.

 

“Come on Hiashi, you don’t need to say that much. Just call them Night Howlers.” Konohamaru said with a chuckle.

 

“Wait what?” Hinata said with a frown on her face. Konohamaru frowned as he stared at her, his ears flickering a little at her confusion. “What did you just call them?” asked Hinata.

 

“Oh right, well my family likes to grow these flowers to help with pests. It was thanks to your father and well, Hiashi kept calling them… well that but mom and dad decided to use their other name ‘Night Howlers’.” Konohamaru said with a chuckle.

 

“Indeed. Though, after what happened with your uncle Hizashi, he ingested one by accident when we were kids and went insane. He just started to attack us, had to pump his stomach to figure out what had caused it and well, it’s why I kept you, your sister and the other children away from them for so long.”

 

Hinata just blinked in shock. The flowers, the ‘Night Howlers’ they weren’t wolves or even a demon or animal! They were flowers! “That’s it!” Hinata shouted before she ran out of the garden. Her family and Konohamaru just stared at her in confusion. “They weren’t wolves of any kind! But flowers! Father I’m stealing your keys for the car, I’ll bring it back!” Hinata called out.

 

“Any idea what that was about?” asked Hiashi.

 

“So it wasn’t just me that she seemed like she was speaking another language?” asked Konohamaru.

 

“No, it was me too.” Answered Hanabi.

 

“Okay good.” Came Konohamaru’s voice.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata didn’t know where she was going, didn’t know what she was doing but she had one thing on her mind. It was to find the one person that would know where Naruto was. She had remembered his address from the file but when she had arrived there, there was no answer. Hinata wanted to do cry at that, where could he be?

 

She had wandered around the entire city in the hopes of finding him but so far, nothing yet. It had seemed that the universe was trying to do all it could to keep her from finding the man, and she knew that she had to do something but couldn’t be sure as to what she had to do in order to find the man.

 

It had been as if Naruto dropped off the face of the earth.

 

Letting out a sift sigh, the young woman laid her head on the steering wheel, wondering who would know where the man could be. Though she had hoped and prayed that the man would be where she would know where he would be. Where he could be.

 

Suddenly, her head shot up as she yelled out “Kurama! Of course!” They knew each other, of course he’d know where the man was. Though, as for where Kurama was, well, that was another thing all together.

 

Hinata decided to check the first place she had met the man, it had been rather hard to hide a van like that anyway with all of the designs that she remembered were on them. Though, she also had to be sure that it was him in the first place. Opening up her senses, Hinata could faintly sense Kurama’s trail, though not a single ounce of Naruto’s. It had seemed as if he hadn’t been in the center of the city for a while now, and she had no way of tracking him, though Kurama, it seemed had left a trail for her.

 

Why she thought it was for her, she had no idea. Though Hinata knew that she had to follow this trail before it went cold on her. Following the trail, Hinata noticed though that the street was familiar to her. Wait, wasn’t this? _’This leads to the ice cream parlor, the one where I first officially met Naruto and Kurama.’_  Hinata thought to herself with a frown on her face. How it was that she had met them so easily before and yet why would they have made this so easy for her?

 

Looking over, the blue haired woman blinked as she saw the van and couldn’t help but stare in shock. It was the can!

 

Grinning from ear to ear, Hinata thought that her heart would burst. Tears starting to form in her eyes before she blinked them away. Parking the car, Hinata shut off the engine before removing the keys and all but jumped out of the car. Making her way over to the van, Hinata found herself quickly banging on the back of the van in the hopes that he was inside.

 

Soon, the doors burst open and Kurama stood there, wearing a white muscle shirt and black shorts, holding a baseball bat. “What do you want?!” He shouted, his eyes glowing crimson in rage. His hair looked rather messy, his eyes looked rather exhausted as if he had just woken up. Had he been sleeping this whole time?

 

When his gaze fell on Hinata, he blinked as he tilted his head. “Oh, it’s the human cop.” Kurama said with a frown. “Why are you wearing a priestess get-up?” he asked with a frown.

 

“Please, I need to find Naruto.” Hinata pleaded, ignoring his other question, her eyes filling with tears once again. Kurama frowned a little at her as he seemed to be sensing something from her. “I have to find him please Kurama, where is he?”

 

“What do you want from him?” asked Kurama.

 

“I have to tell him I’m sorry, that I hadn’t meant what I had said and that I have been a terrible friend.” Hinata said so quickly, her voice breaking here and there and choking up a little on her words. Yet, Kurama had just stared at her with emotionless eyes staring down at her. Hinata had felt as if her words hadn’t reached him, that he wouldn’t tell her where Naruto was. For that, she couldn’t really blame him, but had hoped and prayed that he was willing to at least share Naruto’s location to her.

 

“You had hurt him.” Kurama whispered softly.

 

“I know, and I am so sorry. It’s one of the reasons why I quit the force. I couldn’t take the guilt anymore and went home, then I realised what was happening. It isn’t what I had said and… the only person I can trust to help me with this is Naruto. Even if he doesn’t forgive me, I will still face this mission alone.”

 

Hinata turned away, about to just walk off from the man. If he wouldn’t tell her where Naruto was, then she would do it her own way. She would find a way to find Naruto, even if she exhausted all of her energy in order to find the man, then so be it. “He’s by the bridged, near an abandoned warehouse at the south end of the city.” Kurama’s voice said calmly, causing her to stop dead in her tracks. Hinata blinked as she turned her eyes and looked over at Naruto, unable to look away from the man. “He told me that if you wanted to find him, to go there. I can’t make promises that he’ll forgive you, but he is at least willing to listen.” Hinata could only smile before she started to feel tears stream down her face. How was it that she was starting to get so lucky now?

 

Before, all of her luck had been bad for the most part, and now this was the one thing that she had wanted to say the least, and now it seemed that things were starting to look up for her, though she also couldn’t be sure if it would still go in her favor.

 

“Thank you Kurama.” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata managed to find the bridge, it had taken her some time though she had managed. The bridge was a little dirty, covered in vines and moss, it was as if this place hadn’t been visited in years. What it was for, the blue haired woman had no idea, but what mattered the most was that she knew that Naruto was here. She could sense him that much was for sure.

 

Looking around, the young woman walked along the bridge as she looked around. She could faintly hear the sound of a guitar and knew that it had to be Naruto. Smiling, she looked over the bridge and couldn’t help the small gasp of surprise that had escaped her. “Naruto!” She called out before running over to the other side of the bridge and down the little hill that lead to the fox demon as he sat on a lawn chair. A can was next to him on the ground, though it was most likely empty as she saw that some bugs were already into the can.

 

“Naruto, it was poisonous flowers that is causing the demon’s to go crazy and attack. The reason why you sensing nothing from them is because their mind is being poisoned by these flowers. The same flowers that some guy was stealing from a flower shop!” Hinata said with a smile on her face.

 

The young man stopped strumming his guitar, turned to stare at Hinata for a moment before he looked away. Hinata though couldn’t tell if he had even really looked at her thanks to his sunglasses. “Interesting.” He mumbled coldly. It made Hinata wince a little.

 

“Please, I need your help finding the source. I have an idea as to where they are.” Hinata said.

 

“Really.” He mumbled before setting the guitar aside and pushed himself up from the chair and started to walk on toward the tunnel under the bridge. Stretching his arms above his head as a soft crack was heard.

 

“Please, Naruto I need your help. You are the only one I trust with this mission and… and after that you can hate me all you want.” Hinata said, following him as tears started to stream down his face. His tails, no longer needing to hide seemed to sway gently rather lazily. “And you have every right to hate me, because I was a terrible person. A terrible friend to you and I know for a fact that you hate me. I had hurt you, being the first human you had trust in so long and I had all but crushed that under my foot!” Hinata sniffled a little as she started to wipe at her eyes.

 

“The reason why I flinched like I had back at the station was… was because of what I had told you. About my scars, I got them from a fox demon and since then I had harbored a small fear of fox demons but I didn’t let it stop me from being your friend. I care about you Naruto, you are my best friend! I’m so, so sorry. I am just a stupid woman.”

 

Everything was silent, but the sounds of her sniffling as she tried to get herself to stop crying. God, at this rate she had thought that she would flood the river or something or, at least what remained of this river.

 

Naruto didn’t seem to say anything, he didn’t even seem to do anything. It was as if he was trying to figure out what he should say, what he should do. The blue haired woman had thought that this was the moment of truth, that he would just tell her off and walk away. Until…

 

_”Just a stupid woman, just a stupid woman, just a stupid woman.”_

 

Huh?

 

Naruto chuckled a little as he looked over at Hinata and held up her necklace. The same one that she had used to record his confession on. “No worries Princess. I’ll help you, we’re friends after all. And, of course future partners on the force.” Hinata couldn’t help but cry tears of joy before she ran to Naruto and had all but tackled him.

 

“Gah!” Naruto yelped in shock before he looked down at the blue haired woman and chuckled at her. “Humans, so emotional.” He chuckled a little, running his fingers through her hair before he said “So, where should we start?” asked Naruto with a smile on his face.


	19. Trains and Fire

“So, what’s the plan Princess?” asked Naruto as he tilted his head a little. They had managed to get into Hinata’s father’s car as they drove to make their way through town. Hinata of course smiled as she felt one of Naruto’s tails brush against her leg causing her to giggle a little.

 

“Well, we are going to follow the trail of Night Howlers.” Hinata said before pulling out her phone, carefully going through a browser about the break in at the flower store months ago. Amazing that something as small as that would have played a part in stopping such a crime in the city. “Know this guy?” asked Hinata with a tilt of her head.

 

“Sure do. It’d be sad if I didn’t, he sells bootleg videos.” Naruto said before he crossed his arms. “Harmless man, why do you ask?” asked Naruto with a frown on his face. Not really sure why they would be after such a man in the first place.

 

“Well, he broke into a flower shop and stole some seeds, seeds that happen to be Night Howlers.” Hinata said with a smirk on her face, which of course made Naruto snarl a little at the thought. It seemed that he was ready for action, though as for when that would be, Hinata had no idea, though she knew that she had to be careful of their actions.

 

“So, he’s the one that Iruka was talking about?” asked the fox demon.

 

“It’s possible, hard to say if it’s the same man, but what I do know is that we still have to be careful around him. He had some sutras on him that almost hurt Mr. Inu’s daughter.” Hinata said before letting out a soft sigh. “Thankfully I was able to stop those before they hurt her or worse.”

 

“No kidding. If he lost her he’d become bat shit crazy.” Naruto said with a shudder. It seemed that the fear of the man was still enough to make the fox tremble in fear. “Though, at least we can finally put this to rest at last.” Naruto calmly said, hoping that it would be enough to stop the fight before it got too far out of hand and reached others. Hinata felt the same way, though she just hoped that it would be enough to save the other demons that had yet to fall prey to the poison of Night Howlers.

 

“So, what do you think the Night Howlers do?” asked Naruto with a frown on his face.

 

“Not a hundred percent sure. But, if they affect both humans and demons, then it is possible that they trigger the part of the brain that holds instincts. Such as the demons instincts to fight and kill if they feel threatened or are hungry.” Hinata pointed out before she calmly said “And a human’s instinct to protect themselves at any means necessary. So it’s a possibility that it attacks or triggers that part of our brains in order to get the demons riled up to the point that they feel threatened and attack.” Hinata let out a soft sigh as she leaned back as they stopped at a red light. “My theory, is that if a demon was faced with someone who was dear to them, part of a pack or their mate, it would be their instinct to ‘protect’ not ‘kill’ or ‘attack’ in the first place.” Turning to him, Hinata asked “Do you get what I mean?”

 

“Kind of. So, demons are following instinct, which is why I can’t follow emotions right? Because they are not following emotions but following instincts which do not always require emotions right?” asked Naruto with a tilt of his head.

 

Hinata nodded her head at him before turning her gaze up at the street light as she saw that it had turned green once again. Stepping on the gas, Hinata calmly said “The thing is, I just don’t understand why they are attacking demons. What reason could there be in the first place? Why would they want to make demons look bad?” asked Hinata, hoping that maybe Naruto would have an idea, though it seemed that he was just as lost as she was.

 

Letting out a soft sigh, the young woman leaned back against her seat as she looked ahead and blinked in shock. “Hey, isn’t that the guy?” asked Hinata with a frown on her face.

 

“Yeah, Kabuto. He sells his videos around here, though looks like he’s having an off day so that makes it easier to get him to talk.”

 

“True, but… do me a favor?” asked Hinata with a frown on her face.

 

“Uh… okay?”

 

“Make yourself have one tail. He doesn’t know you have nine right?” asked Hinata with a frown.

 

“No, everyone knows me as a one tail.” Hinata smiled at that. Looks like things would be looking up for her right now, though she just hoped that when the time came to use that to their advantage, it would scare the man to the point of him finally speaking to them about who those Night Howlers were for. Though, she just hoped that either way, he would be in the mood for speaking.

 

Naruto nodded before he pulled his necklace out of his pocket and slid it on before using his illusion powers to hide himself to make his nine tails meld together until they looked like a singular tail. Hinata had thought that the illusion would have looked a little more amazing, spectacular than that but figured that maybe it was just the way illusions worked with demons.

 

Though at least it still worked for the most part. Now though, they just had to talk to this ‘Kabuto’ person and learn if he knows anything worthwhile. If not, maybe she could just send him to jail not just selling illegal movies and of course most likely helping those who were poisoning demons.

 

“Ready to do this Naruto?” asked Hinata with a small smile on her face.

 

Naruto took a deep breath as he let out a soft sigh. It seemed that he was nervous, and she couldn’t blame him. He knew that this would be the biggest part of their mission now, as they had no weapons other than what powers Naruto had and of course what it was that Hinata could do. Though even then, that wasn’t a hundred percent guarantee as her powers mostly worked on demons.

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Naruto whispered softly.

 

Killing the engine, Hinata and Naruto got out of the car before making their way over to the white haired man. His hair was pulled back and his glasses seemed to reflect the sunlight, almost blinding her. He was calling out to anyone that was near, telling them that he had movies that hadn’t been released yet, that he could give them the best deals of their lives. It was something that Hinata herself wouldn’t buy, not just the movies but his story about being able to get movies such as that but, she had a feeling that there was more to it than he let on.

 

Shaking her head, the young woman carefully made her way over to the man. Naruto of course, had his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face. “What’s up Kabuto? Still selling movies?” asked Naruto.

 

“Shut up fox, shouldn’t you be playing music for kids?” Kabuto said with a smirk.

 

“I’ll cut to the chase.” Hinata cut in, her eyes narrowed as she glared at the man. “We all know those were Night Howler seeds you were stealing. What were you doing with them in the first place?” Hinata wasn’t sure if he would even answer her, though she knew that she had to make herself look intimidating.

 

“Why would I tell you anything? Not like you could hurt me anyway, and neither can the fox over there.” Kabuto said with a laugh before he leaned over on his table, staring at the pair with a snickering smirk. “Though, maybe you could provide me with a better reason to give you answers?” He looked down at Hinata’s chest with what she would suspect to be a hungry gaze.

 

Hinata glared as she quickly slapped Kabuto hard across the face. “Don’t even think about it, I have better standards than that!” Shouted Hinata.

 

Naruto snickered next to her, causing her to look at him. “He shouldn’t have done that, he needed the slap.” Naruto managed to snicker out for a moment before he look at the white haired man. “Now, Kabuto, buddy, just tell us what we want to know and I won’t have to resort to violence.”

 

“You? Hurt me? Even you know I can take on one tailed foxes. I could beat up your friend without any problem and he has more tails than you.” Kabuto said with a smirk on his face before he leaned back up, crossing his arms over his chest in what one would describe as a defiant pose. “What are you gonna do to make me talk?” asked Kabuto.

 

Hinata turned her gaze at Naruto, who in turned looked at her. Her gaze shifted back to Kabuto from the corner of her eye before looking back at the blonde and crimson haired man once again. Naruto seemed to get the idea, as Kabuto was resisting them and knew that they had to get the answer right away, as soon as possible. Though, she just hoped that it would be enough, though what she did know was that the most powerful of demons, had at least a bit of resistance to sacred energy. With Naruto being a nine tailed fox, he had some resistance to the point that it would take a while for her own power to hurt him.

 

A long while since she wasn’t that powerful.

 

Naruto smirked as he turned his gaze to Kabuto. The white haired man seemed rather confused as to what it was that they were planning to do. Naruto walked toward Kabuto, his tails splitting into nine swaying tails as he dropped his illusion. Eyes turning a deep crimson with black slits as he pinned the man to the wall behind him. “Now, what was it that you being able to take on a one tail demon?” asked Naruto with a twisted smirk on his face.

 

“You… you have one tail! You shouldn’t have nine!”

 

Naruto just threw his head back and laughed. Hinata couldn’t deny this, he was really good at playing the crazy cop for sure. Did he take some kind of acting classes when he was younger?

 

“I have nine numb nuts! I have _always_  had nine tails. I just kept them hidden.” Naruto smirked down at the shaking man as he held up a clawed hand that was engulfed in crimson flames. “Now, give me one damn good reason why I shouldn’t hurt you for trying to make advances on my pack member?” Hinata blinked at that, Naruto had thought of her as his pack even after everything that had happened? Amazing really.

 

Kabuto was blubbering out words that Hinata couldn’t make out from fear. He was waving his arms around, only to smirk as Hinata noticed that he pulled out one of his knives. “Naruto careful!” Shouted the blue haired woman as Kabuto stabbed Naruto’s arm. Causing the man to cry out in pain though his eyes only seemed to burn with more anger and hate. The red in his eyes seeming to overtake his eyes, it was almost as if a different part of him had taken over.

 

“Big mistake.” Growled Naruto, his voice sounding deeper, darker and more sinister. Lifting Kabuto by his shirt, he held the man off of the ground as he said “Give me one fucking reason not to rip your throat out.” Okay, she knew that if he did try to go that far that she’d have to stop him.

 

“Okay! I’ll talk! Just set me down please!” Kabuto said with a cry of fear and panic.

 

“You’re lying to me. Your emotions lie to me, tell me the fucking truth or so help me-“

 

“Okay! I’ll talk! Really!”

 

Hinata didn’t know if he really meant his words, though she knew that she had to be careful around the man, there was no telling what he would do in this situation. Naruto took a deep breath, calming himself before he carefully lowered the man down to the ground. “Okay, I was hired to do it. A man named Orochimaru asked me to take those and he’d pay me handsomely. I don’t know what he’s doing with those flowers, but I know that it can’t be good. He’s down in the old subway station, an old train that he uses as some kind of lab. I’m not sure what he does with it, but he just said ‘do not worry, all will be revealed one day’. I don’t know what it was, but I didn’t want to stick around to find out.” Kabuto explained before rubbing the back of his head.

 

“That it?” asked Naruto.

 

“Yeah, that’s all I know I swear. I didn’t even get paid in full since I couldn’t get all the seeds back.”

 

Well, it was a lead, so that had to mean something. It was time to take matters into her own hands now.

 

* * *

 

 

Hinata and Naruto found themselves at an old stair well. It was covered in vines, grass and rust from years of it being unused. The duo couldn’t help but tilt their head to the side in confusion, it was as if this place just reeked in a frightened aura. Hinata didn’t know why, but she sensed a great evil down here, she couldn’t be sure what it was, but knew that this was the answer to their problems.

 

“Ready Hinata?” asked Naruto with a smile on his face.

 

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Hinata said with a small smile.

 

Both race down the stairs, Hinata having a little trouble thanks to the sandals that she had decided to wear for the day. She should have grabbed her sneakers on her way out though, that would have still looked weird with a priestess kimono.

 

Shaking her head, Hinata knew that she’ll have to blame herself later, for now she had to focus on something else that was more important. That was to get this case solved and figured out as quickly as it could be. “Princess, this way.” Naruto called out, causing her to turn her head and there was another tunnel that lead seemed as if it had also been abandoned. “I sense people in here, I don’t know what’s down there though.” Naruto whispered.

 

Hinata frowned a little as she looked ahead at the tunnel. All she could sense was a strange coldness that seemed to seep into the very center of her being. She couldn’t help but shiver at the feeling but kept walking forward. Naruto looked down at Hinata for a moment before asking “You alright?”

 

“I’m fine. I’ve just never felt this much power before. It’s just strange to feel this kind of emotional energy.” Hinata mumbled before shaking her head. “Hard to believe that it belongs to humans.” Hinata added with a frown on her face.

 

“I have to agree. But even humans can have these kinds of emotions, ones that even demons can’t seem to comprehend.” Naruto said with a sigh escaping him.

 

Nodding her head, Hinata tried to find the wall, hoping that she could use it to lead her to this ‘secret’ lab. Though it seemed that the wall was trying to evade her touch. “Hold onto me.” Naruto calmly said as he held onto her hand causing her to blink a little. “I can see in the dark, I can lead us.” Naruto whispered softly before walking along with the blue haired woman through the tunnel. Though, what they would find, they hoped that it would be the key to everything that had been going on here, and that they could find a way to stop this all from happening anymore.

 

Looking up, the duo saw an old train that seemed to have been run down and covered in rust. Tilting her head to the side in confusion, Hinata couldn’t help but be curious as to what it was that they were doing in there. “Ready to go inside?” whispered Naruto. All the blue haired woman could do was nod as they carefully walked into the train, the door having been left open. Though, not like it was a mistake per say, as no one ever really came down here. It was the perfect place to hide their ‘lab’ from the unwanted eye.

 

Looking around, the young woman had to squint her eyes as she readjusted to the light that was in the train. As they walked through the lab, keeping low to the ground, Hinata could make out the blue flowers that her father used. “That’s a lot of Night Howlers.” She whispered softly.

 

“Yeah. What do they do with it to use on demons?” asked Naruto.

 

“Not sure.” Hinata whispered.

 

Hiding under the table, Hinata and Naruto watched as they saw a tall man walk into the train. He wore a simple white shirt and black pants. He only wore sandals on his feet as he walked toward what would appear as a small work table. He threw on a mask before grabbing a bag that was brimming with flowers before he dumped the bag of its contents in what one would describe as a compress boiler.

 

Hinata tilted her head as she heard the sound of bubbling and steam as the man turned on the press and went over to his work table. The beakers bubbled and a blue liquid seemed to swirl down a line from one beaker to another. The man hummed softly as he turned dials, watching as the man worked his own kind of magic as he saw the liquid go into a little pellet.

 

He removed his mask as he pulled out his cell phone as it had started to go off. “Hello? Yeah it’s ready, so what’s the mark?” asked the man, Hinata figured he was Orochimaru. “Okay, a lightning demon in central. I know they’re fast and powerful, come on I hit a Monkey Demon in a moving car through a little window, give me some credit.” Hinata stared with wide eyes before she teared her gaze off of the man and looked a bulletin board that had pictures of demons that Hinata recognised. She knew those faces, they were the same faces as the demons that she had pulled out of Madara’s hospital.

 

Yet, when her gaze fell on the pictures of Iruka and Asuma, Hinata couldn’t help but stare in shock. “He’s been shooting them.” Hinata whispered.

 

Naruto held onto Hinata’s hand, as if trying to keep her from doing something stupid. She just nodded at him before watching as the man let out a sigh as the sound of a knock was heard. “Anyway, I have to go. My coffee’s here. Later.” Orochimaru hung up the phone and started to make his way to the doorway.

 

Hinata pushed herself back up onto her feet and looked at all of the flowers. Naruto frowned as he asked “What are you going to do?”

 

“We’ll have to take this to the cops. Chief needs to see all of this.” Hinata said with a smile.

 

“Okay here.” Naruto said as he closed up the suitcase, that now held onto a loaded gun that had the Night Howler serum.

 

“All of it.” Hinata said before she rushed forward and shoved Orochimaru out of the train. Causing him to yelp in shock as Hinata closed and locked the door from the inside. “Let’s go!” Hinata said as she rushed to the front of the train car and started to mess with the dials and switches. Turning a hand rail around, the train started to power up as she started to feel the train pull forward.

 

“I don’t know what’s odder. The fact that we are moving an entire lab or that this rusty bucket of bolts is moving!” Naruto said before he looked up at a line and grinned. “Okay, I have to do this.” He pulled at the rope and, next thing they both knew the train started to blare. “Oh god I’ve always wanted to do that.” He said with a chuckle.

 

Hinata just laughed a little, finding the fox a little silly. Though, before anything could be done, Hinata couldn’t help but blink as she felt the train starting to tremble. “What’s happening?!” asked Hinata as the train shook like mad.

 

“I think the train can’t support itself now!” Naruto said as he looked ahead, seeing as how they were now outside of the tunnel, but another train was coming ahead. Cursing under his breath, he looked at her as he asked “You got a plan?”

 

Hinata looked ahead as she noticed the train as well. Though what could they do? The train was getting closer and closer to them and this train couldn’t support itself for very long and they could end up killed if they hit the other train among many others. Wait, “Naruto how far can you throw a fire blast?” asked Hinata.

 

“Pretty far why?”

 

“Is it solid enough?” asked Hinata.

 

“Yes, yes but _why_  are you asking?” asked Naruto.

 

“Break the glass, then hit that target over there. For us, it’ll change the tracks taking us further into the city. From there, is I’m remembering the map of the city properly, we should be near the museum.” Naruto just blinked at her before nodding his head, a smile forming on his lips. “Got it.” He chuckled before smashing the glass with his fist, using his tails as a shield for Hinata so she wouldn’t be cut by the shards that flew.

 

Squinting his eyes a little, Naruto thrust his hand outward and shot out a few fire balls, a couple of them missed, having to adjust his aim a little bit managed. “Okay got it, now what?” asked Naruto.

 

Hinata smiled as she turned the dial up, making the train go faster. “Are you nuts?!” Naruto all but shouted at Hinata. “The train is starting to come apart at the seams, if we go faster we’ll only shorten our time here!”

 

“But this way we can still get the train to the other tracks so we can miss the train.” Hinata pointed out before they had turned onto the other tracks. Yet, the force of the turn had caused the train to lift itself from the tracks itself and Hinata screamed out in shock. Naruto acted quickly and wrapped his arms around Hinata as the train landed on its side, the force of his body slamming into the wall caused the wind to be knocked out of them.

 

“Naruto!” Hinata shouted out to him.

 

Naruto acted quickly, wrapping his tails around the blue haired woman and himself as a means to create a shield.

 

The train car rolled once again, causing them to roll around in the train car as they yelped out in pain, Naruto taking the most of the damage as they rolled around in the car. Once it stopped rolling, Naruto felt the car vibrating, not sure if it was due to it still sliding or if it was about to blow or a mixture of both!

 

Hinata groaned a little as she asked “You okay Naruto?”

 

“We have to get out _now_  it’s gonna blow!” Naruto shouted before lifting Hinata with his tails and quickly crawled out of the train, rushing as quickly as he could. Not a moment too soon, the train blew up causing them all to roll on the ground. Naruto quickly wrapped his arms around Hinata and took the full brunt of the fall as he shielded her with his body.

 

They both just laid there on the ground, Hinata groaned a little as she looked up and blinked slowly as she looked at the remains of the train and stared with wide eyes. “I… I can’t believe it, it’s all gone.” Hinata whispered, tears starting to stream down her face as she looked on in shock and disbelief. Everything that they had done to get all of this to prove what it was that the demons had been indeed, poisoned and that they were only acting the way they were.

 

“Yeah… but…” Naruto said, causing her to look over and blinked in confusion. Not sure what it was that he was going to say until Hinata saw him holding up a steel suitcase. “I managed to swipe this before the train blew up.” He chuckled a little before hugging Hinata and nuzzled her, letting out a purr. Hinata blushed a little before laughing happily.

 

“Thank you Naruto, now we have enough to prove what is going on.” Hinata said before pushing herself up onto her feet. Naruto followed suit as they ran up the stairs to the museum and started to make their way through. Though, Naruto stopped in his tracks as he held out his arm. Hinata frowned a little as she asked “Something wrong?”

 

“Someone’s here.” Naruto whispered softly.

 

Looking ahead, the young woman blinked as she turned her head and blinked as she saw two people walking toward them. Hinata couldn’t help but frown a bit as she looked on ahead as she stared at the advancing figure. “Obito?” Hinata said with a frown on her face.

 

“It’s Mayor Obito now Hinata. I told you that before, I had heard from the chief that you had found evidence to help the demons.” Obito said with a smile on his handsome face.

 

Wait… she never called the chief yet. Hinata had planned too when they were near the station but she hadn’t had a chance to call them yet. Narrowing her eyes, Hinata backed up a bit as she wondered what was going on. “Hinata, I think…” Naruto began, though Hinata already knew what it was.

 

Obito had known everything and had been the mastermind behind everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> decided to upload more, because I love you and I also wanna finish this story


	20. Truth and Instincts

Hinata just stared at the man, someone that she had thought was her friend was really, her enemy. Backing up a couple steps, the young woman knew what Naruto was going to say. Obito had known all along what was happening, that he was the man behind everything that was happening in the city. He was the man behind the scenes and made sure that everything was going the way it should be.

 

How could she have been so blind? This was classic villains 101 in any movie. Only this time it was in real life!

 

“Hinata, give me the gun and I’ll take care of everything.” Obito said with a smile on his face.

 

“Run!” Hinata shouted before grabbing Naruto’s hand and ran as fast as her legs could carry her. The fox demon of course didn’t need to be told twice as he followed her lead. Hinata knew that she had to hurry up, that she had to think of something and fast before she and Naruto ended up dead. They had to do something though what could she do?

 

They ran into the darkened museum, hoping that they would find a clue as to what to do. Or even a means of escape, though it seemed that it was all for naught.

 

Hinata pulled out her phone and quickly sent a text to Choji, telling him where she was and that she needed the chief and the other officers to her location and fast!

 

Yet, as she was doing that, Hinata yelped as she felt something sharp embedding itself into her leg. Hinata cried out as she fell onto the floor, holding onto her leg. Groaning, she looked down and saw that an arrow must have been sticking out of the pile over there, and must have shuffled somehow before she and Naruto even got in here and from the odd angle along with her running had forced itself to go into her leg.

 

“Hinata!” Naruto called out, holding onto her before he pulled the arrow out. She winced from the pain as he looked around and pulled her over to behind a pillar. Holding onto her, he ripped part of his shirt and wrapped it around her leg. “Can you walk?” asked Naruto.

 

“I don’t think so.” Hinata said with a frown before looking up. Tears in her eyes as she held out the suitcase. Briefcase, whatever it was at this point. She was in pain damn it! “Naruto I need you to take this to Kakashi, tell him that it was in a lab and what happened to me.”

 

“But Princess, I can’t just leave you.”

 

“Naruto I can’t _walk_  let alone get to the station.” Hinata tightly shut her eyes, not sure what more they could do. They had to find a means of escape, though maybe she could get Obito to confess, though she wasn’t sure how they would be able to do that.

 

“Hinata, I can’t leave you like this. We’ll have to escape by our own means. I can’t burn through walls and my powers over wind can’t cut through it either.” Naruto said before his head whipped up to the sound of footsteps. “Come on, we have to get a move on before he gets us.” Naruto whispered before he lifted Hinata in his arms, holding the briefcase with his tail as he started to run.

 

“Get them!” Shouted Obito as he heard their footsteps.

 

Naruto ran, though Hinata noticed that it wasn’t as fast as it should be, most likely because he was carrying her, even as a demon he was using muscles that he most likely used before while holding someone. Though it seemed that Obito had chased them as well, keeping up with them perfectly well. “How is he?!” Hinata called out, not sure what more she could say. It had seemed as if everything was working against them, that he was able to keep up with them without any kind of problem.

 

“I don’t know, but something is off with his aura Princess!” Naruto said to her, not even sure what it was that was happening. It seemed that Obito was nothing but only one mask of many, someone that had powers that they knew shouldn’t be possible even if he had sacred power much like Hinata.

 

Hinata felt Naruto trying to run faster, she knew that she had to think of a plan. Though what could she do in a situation like this? If Obito believed that he had captured them, then he would most likely spill his plans. Most bad guys did that in movies and TV and he seemed to be following that typical stereo type. Why though? It all just seemed as if he had such high hopes over himself that he couldn’t get caught.

 

Soon, Naruto and Hinata came face to face with Obito who just seemed to have appeared in front of them. His smile was wide, twisted, dark, and sinister as he said “Sorry, but I have my own mission at stake here.” He laughed loudly before he sent a kick to Naruto’s ribs, causing the fox to yell out in pain as he fell into the pit below. The case falling from his tails grasp as he and Hinata fell into the pit that looked like it was part of an exhibit.

 

Hinata rolled out of Naruto’s grasp, she couldn’t help but groan in pain as she looked over and saw that Naruto held onto his ribs. It seemed that the kick was much more powerful than she had expected it to be, though how was that possible? Obito was human wasn’t he? So why would something such as that even hurt him in the first place? “Naruto!” Shouted Hinata as she crawled over to the man and held onto him with a frown on her face. “Are you okay?” asked Hinata with a frown on her face, her eyes shining with concern.

 

“I’m fine, but my ribs fucking hurt so damn much.” Naruto groaned out as he looked over and saw Obito. “That fucker isn’t all human Princess.” Hinata frowned as she looked up, though Hinata had felt Naruto grabbing onto her hand, she hadn’t moved, but knew that he had slid something into her hand and knew right away what it was.

 

“Obito what are you doing? Why are you even doing this?!” shouted Hinata with a frown on her face.

 

Obito smirked as he looked down at them with a shake of his head. “Really? I am just doing what any other concerned citizen would do Hinata. Demons are the true monsters, just look at Madara. He was going to use the savage demons for his own means.” He said with a laugh and covered his hand as he seemed to snicker into it. How was it that he could change so much like this?

 

“But why?”

 

“Why?” Obito whispered, his gaze turning cold as he glared down at her. “Demons are the reason why I am the way I am!” Shouted Obito, his hate and anger burning in his veins. Seeing their confused looks, he just snarled down at them and Hinata couldn’t help but notice a soft golden amber glow to his eyes. “I am a descendent of Madara Uchiha. I’m mostly human, but I still maintain most of the qualities of a demon. I have been alive for over a hundred years!” He all but snarled out.

 

He was… of demon decent? But, how was that even possible? It was unheard of.

 

Obito glared down at the two of them as he said “I became this way, because of how I lost Rin!” Hinata just stared at him with wide eyes, as did Naruto. “All those years ago, I was friends with Kakashi and Rin and Rin I knew was the woman for me. Yet, she decided to become a cop and follow Kakashi around. I had him _promise_  me that he would protect her and he failed to do so! It was a demon that took Rin’s life, and I’ll return the favour.” Hinata watched with wide eyes as Obito’s lips twitched into a smile that gave the young woman chills. “By making their lives a living hell that they can never escape from.”

 

“Wait, how does Kakashi not know that you are his friend?” Hinata asked.

 

“Oh, easy. He never knew I had demon blood in my veins, I may not look like a demon but I had laid low for years only resurfacing a good handful of years ago to make it seem like I was a descendent of myself.” He laughed a little more, placing a hand on his forehead as he hunched forward a little as he stared down at the duo with a crazed look on his face. “Honestly, I had thought that you were Rin reborn, but sadly you are not as it seems even you would prefer the company of demons.” Hinata just narrowed her eyes at him.

 

“So why do this at all?”

 

“Why? Like I said, to make demons pay for what they did to my Rin. I can’t do that alone of course, after all I needed my own army. There are more humans than demons, nine out of ten are all humans and humans shall rule while demons will fade into history.” Obito said with a chuckle before he crossed his arms and stared at the two as he saw the disgusted look on their faces. It seemed that his words had hit them, but made them rather disgusted with themselves at his own actions and words alone.

 

“Why are you even telling me this in the first place?” asked Hinata.

 

“Oh, because you won’t live to tell the tale of course!” Obito said with a chuckle, a smile on his face.

 

“Oh, and how are you going to do that?! By kill us?!” Shouted Naruto with a glare.

 

Obito shook his head as he looked down at the two, his smile still there yet it didn’t reach his eyes. Hinata knew that something bad was going to happen, and the way that he stared down at the two of them just seemed to give her chills. This wasn’t going to be good, that much she knew for sure.

 

“Oh, that is simple. I want the world to feel pain and what better pain, than to have a wonderful cop, even though she is no longer a cop, to be torn to shreds by a demon.” Hinata’s eyes widened in shock. He was going to sick a demon on her? But how? The only demon that was near her was Naruto but he had no reason to kill her… unless…

 

“No.” Hinata looked over at Naruto as she asked “Naruto, please say you have the serum with you!” Her eyes were wide with fear, fear for their safety. There was no way that this could be happening! There was no way that this could be happening!

 

“I… I don’t! The case was knocked away from me when he kicked us here. I’m sorry Hinata.” Naruto said with a frown on his face.

 

Hinata quickly turned her gaze back up at Obito and saw as he looked down at them. In his hand was the case that held the gun, along with the serum. “Oh, even if he did have it, I always carry a spare should the need arise. And arise it would have.” He chuckled a little before double checking the guns holder and smirked a little seeing that it had a pellet within. “Who would have thought that I would be the cause of a cop’s death of all things? In a way, I find this rather ironic. I lose my lover due to a demon, a demon that she had tried to talk down enough to get them to calm down and yet she paid with her kindness with her own life. Now, you are having the same treatment but with a demon whom you trusted deeply. Two different women, but the same fate.”

 

 It was then that the world all but slowed down for the duo. Hinata could only watched as Obito shot at Naruto with the pellet and watched as the glass broke upon contact. She saw no residue, most likely it was absorbed by his skin and Hinata couldn’t help but crawl to him as she said “Naruto, please fight it! I know you can!” Hinata had hoped that her voice would reach him, wanting it to reach him but she had a sinking feeling that it wouldn’t.

 

Naruto’s body shook and trembled under her hands as she held onto him. What was she to do? Naruto’s body seemed to convulse in pain, as if he was fighting himself though she wasn’t sure what was going on in his head. “Come on Naruto, fight it!” shouted the young woman, not sure what she should say, what she should do!

 

Soon, his head whipped to her and glared at her with hate, rage and anger. His eyes, once blue as the sky and oceans, now a deep crimson with black slits for pupils. He snarled at her as he started to stalk towards her on all fours like a wild animal. His tails swaying side to side quickly as he stared down at Hinata.

 

She knew that she had to run!

 

Quickly, the young woman tried to run, though with her leg burning with pain made it rather hard for her to do so. Hinata managed to throw things toward the man, hoping and praying that she could get away. Naruto though was fast, faster than should be possible. Hinata ran, ran and ran until she hit the edge of the wall. She couldn’t help but stare with wide eyes as she turned around and slid onto the floor, not sure if he would even reach her in the first place.

 

“How do you feel Hinata?” asked Obito with a chuckle.

 

“Why do you want me dead so badly?!” shouted Hinata, tears filling her eyes as she tried to think of what she could do.

 

“Simple, you know too much. I don’t know how you figured out that we used flowers, but I won’t let you live long enough to tell anyone else.” Obito said with a smirk on his face.

 

Quickly turning her head, Hinata saw Naruto jump at her, causing her to throw her hands up and create a shield in the hopes of protecting herself.

 

“A priestess?!” shouted Obito in shock. “Of all the things that you had to be it was a priestess? I could have used your blood as a means to kill demons!” Obito said with a smirk before sighing softly. “Though there is still your family.” Hinata stared with wide eyes, now she had another reason for needing to stay alive. She had to protect her family,

 

Naruto growled and snarled as he swiped his claws at her, Hinata could only stare in shock at the blonde and crimson haired man as she had hoped that somehow a part of him was still in there! She knew that he was following his instincts right now. Though what part of his instincts would be active other than the desire to eat, drink, and kill to survive? Wait…

 

“Naruto stop it! I’m part of your pack remember!” Hinata all but shouted at the man, hoping that he understood her.

 

Before Hinata could say more, Naruto punched at her shield, shattering it in the process. Hinata cried out in pain as she laid on the ground and groaned slightly in pain. Her shield wasn’t powerful, though it was hard for her to focus on her powers while she was in a great deal of pain. Looking up, she saw the man snarling down at her he went to swipe at her, Hinata couldn’t help but wrap her arms around her head as a means to protect herself.

 

_Sniff, sniff, sniff._

 

Hinata blinked slowly as she opened her eyes and blinked as she saw Naruto sniffing at her. His eyes still crimson as he sniffed at her, only to start nuzzling his head against hers. He was… snuggling her, his tails wrapped around her as if she was precious to him and then it started to click into her head. _’He knows I’m part of his pack, he’s trying to protect me, to comfort me.’_  thought Hinata with wide eyes.

 

“Why isn’t he killing you?!” shouted Obito.

 

Naruto snarled up at Obito and looked ready to attack. Hinata though wrapped her arms around the man, holding him closer to her. He seemed to calm down, though his eyes looked ready to kill Obito. Hinata smiled gently at him as she said “It’s over. Naruto won’t hurt me, your plan failed.”

 

“Whatever, it’s my word against yours.” Hinata smirked a little at his words.

 

“More like, your own word against yours.” Hinata whispered as she pulled out her necklace. Obito just stared at it, until Hinata hit play and played back some of Obito’s words back at him. He couldn’t help but stare with wide eyes at the blue haired woman, it seemed that he hadn’t expected her to record his words. He had sealed his own fate at this point. “By the way, I had also sent word to my friend down at the station, and if I know him as well as I do, they should be back any moment.” It was then, that Obito looked around and saw everyone from the station starting to circle him, causing him to stare with fear in his gaze.

 

“But… but… but!” Obito said.

 

Kakashi walked out of the crowd of officers as he glared down at Obito. “It’s over.” Obito couldn’t help but fall down to his knees as he growled at himself, Hinata couldn’t help but sigh in content for the most part. It had seemed that for now, everything could go back to normal. That she could live a normal live now though, she knew that they still had much to be desired for the most part. Naruto was calm, he was mostly cuddling her though they knew that they had much to do in order to return the demons back to normal.

 

How that would be, she didn’t know. But, if what Obito had said about keeping an extra pellet was true, along with the fact that there had already been one in the gun in the first place then there was a good chance that they had a way to make a cure for everyone. All they had to do, was wait for it.


	21. The End

It had taken them a few months, but the cure had been made. While the theory of Hinata’s seemed to have worked for Naruto’s case, it seemed that it wasn’t capable to be proven as of yet. How Naruto was able to snap himself out of it enough for him to seem to know that Hinata was part of his pack, while Iruka, for example, even knowing Naruto had treated him even as a brother was still willing to fight or kill him was still hard to figure out.

 

Hinata had theorised that maybe, it was because Iruka had been scared before the serum had taken its hold on him. Not to mention, the pair had only just started to forgive the other so the bond hadn’t fully been repaired as of yet.

 

Though again, that was only a theory.

 

They had gone through so much just to remove the threat of Obito and Madara. Sure, the two had been working separately, but who knows what would have happened what would have happened should either one of them went on with their plan. It was really hard to say, but Hinata knew that everything was back to normal so to speak.

 

Over the course of a few months, Naruto had stayed with Hinata for the most. Seeming that he wouldn’t trust anyone other than her, or even Kurama. But, it seemed that a part of him didn’t want to leave Hinata, thinking as if she would still be in danger or because she was still recovering. The wound to her leg had for the most part torn up some of her muscles but not enough so to cause any permanent damage to her.

 

Though, there was still more that she had to do. As she recovered, Kakashi had spoken to her, saying that her paper work to quit hadn’t fully gone through so she was allowed to come back. Of course, Hinata had said that she will come back, so long as he was open the idea of Naruto joining the force if he still wanted too and of course after he finished his training at the academy.

 

Kakashi agreed to her terms.

 

Yet, Hinata couldn’t help but wonder what Kakashi was going through. Finding out the one person that was once his friend had tried to take down all of demon kind just because the one woman they both loved had died so long ago. Thanks to Obito’s demon heritage, he was able to live longer than the average human though, how long that would be now was hard to say.

 

It was a strange thing, having to witness such a thing and Kakashi had mentioned that she was a powerful and strong woman. Yet, what had surprised him was while he had been listening to the recording, it also recorded about Obito talking about Hinata’s heritage. Just thinking about it had made her gone pale, thinking that Kakashi would have to have some restrictions on her but, he told her that if she had to use them, that she could should the need arise.

 

A rather strange surprise but a good one to say the least. Smiling happily, the young woman sighed in content at the memory.

 

After the cure though, Hinata had worried about Naruto. As for Asuma, Iruka and the other demons they had woken up the next day. As for him, he was asleep for almost a whole week from his. Though, they suspected it was because he had been under the influence the less amount of time, or because it was because he in a sense, acted like an innocent and cute animal rather than a savage beast.

 

Either way, it didn’t matter to her why that was. All she cared about was to have Naruto back to the way he was. Hoping that he would be alright, hoping that he would wake up and talk to her like he had before all of this craziness had happened. Now though, she almost felt like this whole thing was ripping her to shreds.

 

It was strange, that she would worry this much for him. Though suspected that it had something to do with the fact that he was her friend. Her best friend, and she had been close to losing him to this serum. A serum that she had been thankful for, for Obito having that spare he had mentioned after all.

 

Now, here she was, at a graduation ceremony. Hinata didn’t know that she would be back here again, though knew that this was something that she had to do. This was a big day for him, and she had promised him that she would. What she hadn’t expected was to give a speech.

 

Her leg still hurt her a big, though that would be nothing but phantom pains for a little while longer, but that was to be expected. A year and a half had passed the cure was made, since Naruto had become normal again. Had started to be himself again and now here she was. At his own graduation, though she couldn’t help but wonder what more would be down for him, for _them_  further down the road from here on out. All she knew was that this was a happy day.

 

A day where he would be her partner on the force and where they would both take on crime with a smile on their faces and stop it from becoming a crime as the one they had both gone through.

 

Though, Hinata knew that they both would still have their own trials and errors to go through on this mission, but hoped and prayed with all of her heart that this would be something that they could overcome together. After all, they were the best team out there, a team that could easily work together using the powers of both a demon and a priestess.

 

What better team than that out there?

 

None that was who, and Hinata knew that just as how Naruto kept her in line, she did the same for him. Though, for now she just wanted to enjoy her time at his graduation ceremony, and hope that from here on out, their lives would be easier compared to the Night Howler Case.

 

The End.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, sorry this chapter was shit but I couldn't think of anything else, and just wanted to wrap it up. There may, or may not be a sequel to this, I can't make promises I can't keep because I fear that for this one, that if I do say there will be a sequel that I may back out on it. I know, I may have said there would be a sequel in my Hero Academia story (if anyone of you read that anyway) but that was because I had a plot already figured out there, so yeah... anyway, later!


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